The Phoenix Chronicles
by Dark Phoenix Reborn
Summary: One Saiyan for hire, rebelling against Frieza's tyranical rule. One galactic travellor, with an interesting job opportunity. When the two meet, chaos ensues. AU Set before VegetaSei's destruction. Series 1 of 3
1. Prologue

--- The Phoenix Chronicles ---

Prologue

This is my first fan fiction ever, and I thought before I get into the story, I should clear some things up now so I don't have to clog the chapters themselves with explanations. First thing's first:

Disclaimer: I make no claim of ownership for Dragonball, Dragonball Z, or any other copyrighted material that may appear anywhere in the entirety of this story. If I did I wouldn't be posting this online for free, I'd be selling it on the markets.

This fiction contains various materials that some people may find offensive, such as course language, frequent violence, and sexual references, and if you are one of these people I suggest you leave now. But who am I kidding? By saying this I've more than likely enticed you to read the story instead of turning you off it. In truth, I'd rather people read this, but you do so at your own risk, so don't come complaining to me should you find anything you don't like.

Ok, now that that little bit of unpleasantness is over with, I should explain what this story is about. First, this story is not set in the Dragonball Z world, nor is it in Dragonball, it's set before both of them, at least 7 years before Dragonball, and around 25 years before Dragonball Z. The Vegeta everyone knows and loves is around 7, and Vegeta-Sei is still very much intact. The story does, however, end up crossing over into the Dragonball Z world, but I'll leave knowledge of the 'how' and 'when' of it to people who read through.

This story was, in its original form, a DBZ-style PNP RPG (pen-and-paper role-playing game, for those who didn't know) I was playing with friends that, when I first started writing, was still ongoing. However, infrequent gaming sessions, coupled with a hectic university timetable, prevented me from updating the story as often as I liked, and prevented me from posting the updates completely. I made good use of my end-semester breaks, finishing the story in its entirety, and am posting the complete story all at once, as I don't expect raving reviews, if any, that I'll have to reply to.

There are a few things you, as the reader, should keep in mind as you read this story. First, as this is a prequel, of sorts, for Dragonball Z, irony is our best friend. Second, the Dragonball Z world you know has been ruthlessly parodied in this RPG, but it's all in good fun. Third, as the main character, my character, is Saiyan, or Saiya-Jin if you prefer, unless mentioned otherwise with "Standard" (meaning Earth) all times listed are in Saiyan terms, so I'll put these below.

Saiyan times: 14 days in a week; 8 weeks in a month; 15 months in a year

This works out to be: 1 Saiyan week 2 Standard weeks; 1 Saiyan month 4 Standard months; 1 Saiyan year 5 Standard years.

Note that everything from 'days' down is the same, merely because we couldn't be bothered working out a different day/night cycle.

I should also mention that, from time to time, I use Japanese words instead of English. While I am prefectly aware that this, in all reality, wouldn't happen, sometimes the Japanese words just sound better than their English counterparts. You'll know them when you see them. I've tried to use as few as possible, but as I said, sometimes it just doesn't sound right using English.

Finally, I should list the various symbols I use. Seeing as how this is a multi-race RPG, and each race has their own language, I've used different symbols for the quotation marks around each.

"text" Galactic Basic speech (English)  
'text' thoughts (same across all races)  
"**text"** Saiya-Go/Saiyan speech  
'**text'** Namek-Go/Namekian speech  
"_text"_ telepathy (same across all races)

I think that's about everything I need to mention, for now at least. If anything else comes up specific to a given chapter I'll add the note to the chapter in question.

Oh, and please review. Good or bad, I'd like to know what people actually think, but please try and make it constructive rather than insulting if you don't like it. It's not like I'm not forcing you to read it...


	2. First Contact

--- The Phoenix Chronicles ---

Chapter 01 - First Contact

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On a quiet little planet, in the northwestern reaches of the universe, the sound of a fight being waged rang loudly through the streets. All too soon however, at least for one combatant, silence reigned once more. The man, if you could call it that, his purple skin bruised severely in no less than three places, and small wisps of smoke still rising off his burnt flesh, twitched slightly as he lay in a heap on the ground, obviously dancing along the line between life and death.

His opponent, a man just shy of six foot, and with a mass of flame-like black hair, lowered his right hand, still raised from his last attack, and regarded his fallen foe with a glare. His voice was harsh, with a touch of arrogance, as he spat, "Next time, you should consider who you're dealing with before trying to rip them off." He walked over to him, pausing long enough for the fallen being to twitch harder, this time with fear, before reaching down and removing the pouch from his waist. Without so much as another sound, the man threw his coat on, placed the pouch into one of the pockets, and fled the scene, the sounds of approaching footsteps ringing all too clear in his sensitive ears.

When he was sure he was far enough away, he slowed to a walk, and allowed himself a breath before looking over his latest acquisition, the payment for his last job, albeit with a little 'bonus' for his employer's cheapskate attitude. When he spoke again, the words that came out were rough, guttural, and clearly not Basic. **"The nerve of that fool! What sort of amateur did he think he was dealing with? I am a Saiyan warrior for Kami's sake! And that job was totally beneath me!"**

He paused, both in his rant and his walk, and sighed before gazing up at the faded red sky, the large orange sun slowly setting towards what he guessed was north. He shook his head slightly and continued on, not really focusing on where his feet took him, and allowed himself to dwell in his thoughts. **"Maybe being a mercenary's not the best way to go, but I need some way to get by, and fighting's one of the few things I'm good at... Besides, every fight makes me that much stronger, and brings me that closer to my revenge..."**

His hands clenched, and his teeth ground against each other as his eyes fell closed, and the faces of his fallen comrades swam in his mind's eye. **"They were like family! When Korin died they took care of me, just like he would, and they died protecting me! Because I wasn't strong enough... Because I wasn't ready... Because someone was afraid of what I might become."** The images faded, replaced with the faces of those he suspects most. They appear out of reach, as if taunting him.

**"Frieza! Vegeta! I don't care which one it was! They were right to fear me! They will learn to fear the name of Kapskaen, the Phoenix! I will make them pay for robbing me of those I hold dear!"** The Phoenix, a name he heard not long after he began his crusade. It's a funny thing, to hear rumours of oneself arrive on a planet before you do, and Kapskaen, or Kaen, as he's known to those close to his heart, almost laughed when he first heard it.

His vision swam again, although this time the faces were almost comforting. His mother, his father, his deceased older brother, and his 12-month old twin younger brother and sister; seeing their faces brings his a sense of peace. It is the last face, that of a near three-year old girl, that almost brings the proud Saiyan warrior to tears, and causes his voice to drop to a near whisper. **"Just... Just six more months... And now I'll never see her again..."**

So caught up was he in his memories that he failed to notice the six and a half plus foot man headed his way until it was too late, and the two collided. He jumped back from him, so angry to be caught in this moment of weakness that he failed to notice the high ki of his opponent, not nearly equal himself in strength, but still a formidable opponent. The man who, on closer inspection, appeared to have green skin under that turban and heavy-looking cloak, gazed down at Kaen, and said in a cool, even voice, "Watch where you're going."

Kaen directed a glare at the green man strong enough to kill lesser being, and barked out, "Watch your tongue before I rip it out and show it to you!"

The green man's ki rose sharply at the remark, now nearly matching what Kaen himself was putting out, as he directed a glare of his own, albeit a weak one by Saiyan standards. "You bumped into me, and I simply said for you to watch your step. Idle threats may end you with a hole in the chest."

Kaen smirked at his would-be foe, his Saiyan pride overthrowing his danger sense. "Well, well, well. Sensitive aren't we?"

"Obviously not as sensitive as you," the green man remarked, looking like he'd be smirking himself were any emotion showing.

Kaen's smirk faltered a bit as he looks his opponent over, the sheer calm the man radiated making him assess the situation better, and remarked, "Do you have any idea who you're talking to?"

The almost-smirk strengthened a little as the green man replied, "Yes, a short man with an attitude problem."

Kaen's right eye started twitching as this sank in, and his glare returned. "Short, am I?"

This time, the man did smirk. "Yes, it seems you need your hair and ego to make up for it."

Kaen bared his fangs, growling out, "Care to back that up with more than words green man?"

The man just shrugged his shoulders disinterestedly. "Perhaps, but it seems to me, that you might just be all talk."

Kaen, forgetting about the half-dozen fights already fought today, cracked his knuckles and removed his black coat, revealing his tight-fitting black body suit and flame-red armour. He threw his coat at a nearby wall, creating a massive dent in it where the weighted coat struck, straightened out his black, fingerless gloves, and re-tied his headband, it's colour matching the armour, before dropping into a stance with an almost feral grin on his face.

His opponent removed his turban, cloak, and mantle, and lazily dropped them behind him, their combined weight spider-webbing the pavement. Before he could make a move though, Kaen raised both hands, crossing them at his forehead, and cried out "Helios Flare!"

The area filled with a blinding light, and the green man staggered around a bit rubbing his eyes before straightening up, the technique having little effect on him. He threw Kaen an almost amused smirk as he said "Cute trick, let's see how you like this," and firing thin ki beams out his eyes.

Kaen dove out of the way; the distance created between them by the Helios Flare working in his favour, and prepared to attack again. He held his hands behind him in line with his hips, a red ball of flame-like ki forming in each, before throwing both arms forward until they meet at the wrist, the two balls merging into one, smirking evilly the whole while.

"Inferno Blast!" An intense streak of flame burst out from between his hands, and his opponent had no time to put up a defence.

When the flames died down, thin streams of smoke could be seen rising up from his body, but he gave no outside show of the pain he felt. What was obvious, however, was the attack building in his hands. "Destructive Wave!" Kaen tried to avoid the attack by taking to the skies, but he wasn't quite quick enough, taking the brunt of the attack in the chest and falling back to the ground almost before leaving it.

Kaen shook off the attack, as his opponent doing the same, and regarding him with a look bordering on respect, "Hmph, not bad. I actually felt that."

His opponent's expression was one of utter concentration, appearing to not have heard him, as he held his arms crossed in front of his chest, two fingers on each hand protruding, and building up ki at each. "Demon Twister!"

The sheer power of the attack surprised Kaen, and he threw his hands in front of him, screaming "Heat Shield!" A wall of flame eight foot in every direction formed around him, and successfully stopped the attack in its tracks.

Kaen smirked, seeing his shield working, and yelled out, "Not bad, but I'm better!" His opponent didn't reply, and instead firing off another Destructive Wave, which also explodes harmlessly around the shield. In desperation, it seems, he fired off another of his devastating Demon Twisters, and unfortunately for Kaen, the sheer strength of the attack, combined with the exhaustion of his previous battles, caused his shield to buckle, and the attack struck home. Kaen looked at his opponent in shock, falling to his knees, and his last thought before darkness claims him was 'Look's like I might be seeing you again sooner than I would've liked Korin.'

His opponent staggered around a bit, finally letting his pain show now that the fight was over, his ki plummeting by the second. He regarded his fallen foe, speaking in an exhausted, and clearly alien, voice. **'He's... stronger... than I thought. Maybe... maybe, if it makes it through the night... he might just be what I've been looking for. He might just be able to help...'** His musings were cut short, however, as the after effects of the Inferno Blast finally caught up to him, and he joined Kaen in unconsciousness.

End Chapter 01

To be continued...


	3. Hello, and Goodbye

--- The Phoenix Chronicles ---

Chapter 02 - Hello, and Goodbye

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Footsteps, he could hear them coming closer, but their source was lost to the darkness around him. "Who is it? Show yourself!" His voice rang hollow, and echoed in the shadows surrounding him, the only light coming from somewhere above him, and he questioned not its source for fear even it too would disappear. He could hear voices now, voices from his childhood, calling out to him, pleading for help, and mercy from someone, he know not whom.

He started running, trying to find them, calling their names to the blackness, and receiving nothing but more whimpering in return. Suddenly, the voices stopped, and he found out why all too soon. He saw their battered, burned, and lifeless bodies; faces forever frozen into a rictus of fear, and an inch-wide hole clean through their bodies, piercing the heart. Then he saw _her_, and he felt his chest constrict. He fell to his knees, pulling her to him, his eyes burning with tears he refused to shed.

Then he heard it. Laughter. Laughter at his pain. And not just any laughter. It was the laughter of the one he despised most, the one who took everything from him. He rose to his feet with an all-mighty scream, and the darkness receded, seemingly in fear of his ire, and the face that haunted his nightmares was revealed once more. He glared at it, his face showing nothing but white-hot rage, his body surrounded in yellow flame, and his blood boiling with the want, no, the _need_ for revenge.

His demon showed no fear, no remorse, nothing but sadistic glee at his show of turmoil. His body surged with power unlike any he'd ever felt before, his rage fuelling his strength, and being fuelled by it in turn. He bared his fangs and snarled, his tail lashing behind him like a whip, and the faces of all those taken from him, all those this demon cost him, flashed before his glazed eyes. And with a final cry, the demon's name, the world vanished in a blinding white flash.

"FRIEZA!"

o-o-o

He awoke sharply, his blood still boiling, his heart still racing, but like a true Saiyan warrior, he gave no outside sign he'd awoken. Such actions, however involuntary, were bred and trained out of them, as doing so meant you showed weakness to those around you, and to show weakness was a fate on par with death. He calmed himself, the nightmare fresh in his mind, as it had been on and off for no less than twelve months, but never as frequently as in the past one, and turned his mind, and his senses, to discovering where he was.

He lay on something hard, and the area around him was eerily quiet, leading him to believe that maybe he'd finally been caught, but the feel of grass behind his back soon calmed those initial fears. The air was cool against his skin, suggesting that it may be night, but the wetness around him showed him it was nigh-on morning. Opening his eyes, he saw the sky above him, the light starting to show from the south. It was the same sky he'd seen the morning before, so he hadn't left the planet, and the crackle of a fire told him that, not only was he no longer anywhere near the city, he wasn't alone.

He remembered now, his mind slow from being freshly awoken, and still clouded by his nightmares. He'd been in a fight, his opponent a fair match for him, something he rarely experienced. He remembered the final blast, the one that surely should've killed him, and he remembered the blast of his own, that may have just made his loss into a draw. His mind still racing with questions as to how he survived, let alone got away, he sat up and looks around.

On one side of the fire is the green man, his opponent. He thought to himself, 'Ok, maybe I didn't get away...' and his gaze shifted to the person on the other side of the fire, mostly hidden from his sight by the shadows, but clearly female, and his mind struggled, as if in recognition, but fell short. '...Who... who is that? I feel... I feel I should know her, but I don't remember the face...'

He groaned out "Ugh... how long was I out?" and drew their attention to himself at last.

The female spoke, "Through most of the night Kaen, this nice Namek brought you here and healed you."

'Well, that explains how I survived...' he thought to himself grimly, and he strained to place her voice, which sounded as familiar as her face looks, but his memories were still buried under the haze.

"Nice?" he snorted, "that sounds nothing like the guy _I_ ran into..." He sat fully upright, his gaze returning to the young woman's face, his thoughts churning wildly, and he asked with a voice laced in suspicion and mild curiosity, "And how do you know my name?"

The young woman appears hurt by this statement, and places a hand over her heart as she replied, with a question of her own, "Don't you remember me Kaen...?"

His face took on a slightly confused look, his mind still flailing, and he voiced as such, "Um... I think I should, but I can't place your name..."

Her face fell at this, her gaze now down at the grass, as she responded in a whisper even to his ears. "Pi."

With this single syllable, his eyes shot open and took her in, and the image of her swam in his vision. Pi, the girl from his past, whose memory soothed, saddened, and scared him all at once, flashed across his mind's eye, only to be replaced with the sight he saw before him. It seems the past twelve months had matured her figure nicely, to a point that even he couldn't see they were the same person until now. He slapped his forehead, upset and embarrassed with himself for not spotting it on his own, sporting a slightly sheepish expression, one that was, and is, rarely seen by anyone but her.

"Of course!" he exclaimed, "Sorry, but it has been a while now." 'Twelve months... twelve months... just look at her... I've missed so much...' His thoughts filled with regret, although his heart knew he had no say in the matter, and his face hid both of these facts from the world around.

Her face lit up, pleased in the knowledge that he now recognized her, and she replied, "I'm glad you remember me Kaen, I've spent a lot of time looking for you." A quick glance at the Namek out of the corner of his eye showed him to be meditating, either oblivious to their conversation, or merely keeping out of it.

Kaen looked surprised by this, and voiced this surprise. "Huh, and here I thought I was dead as far as Vegeta-Sei knew..."

Pi nodded her head slightly, her face becoming saddened, "A lot of people think you are, but I didn't want to believe it."

He looked away from her, not wanting her to see his face, as the scenes from his nightmares, those of her especially, flood his mind's eye again, and his voice dropped to a whisper, but one that still reaches her ears, "Perhaps you should have..."

She blinked a little at this, seemingly unsure as to how to react, and, in true Saiyan fashion when dealing with an uncomfortable subject, changed it to a more pleasant one, possibly the most pleasant for many Saiyans. "... I made breakfast..." she said quietly, indicating the vast amount of food in front of her, and you could almost hear the switch click as Kaen's expression changed from one of remorse to that of any Saiyan when presented the opportunity to eat.

He breathed it in, the smell making his mouth water. "Now that smells good!"

Her face brightened, clearly pleased by his praise, "I knew you'd be feeling hungry when you woke up, I already ate, so this is all for you."

If it were possible, his face lit up even more at this statement, "Really? Thanks!" Without wasting so much as another breath, he began eating like many of his species, like a man who hasn't eaten in a month.

The Namek opened his eyes slightly, taking in the sight of a feasting Saiyan, and closed them again without a word. 'Pig...'

In near-record time, Kaen finished his meal and leaned back, showing his enjoyment of the meal with a fairly loud belch, but voiced it anyway. "Wow, you've gotten very good."

Pi beamed back at him, "I'm glad you liked it Kaen."

He smiled back at her before looking over at the stoic Namek, still in his meditation pose, and calling out, "Never caught your name..."

The only part of the Namek to move as he replied was his mouth, "My name is Flute."

Pi busied herself cleaning, leaving the two to their discussion, as Kaen chuckled a bit, "Flute? Your name is Flute?"

Flute's eyes opened, his face filled with mild annoyance, "You find something amusing?"

Kaen just smirked at him, "Maybe."

Flute's gaze never wavered, as he responded, "Well whatever it is, it can't be more amusing than seeing your sorry carcass on the ground after I knocked you out cold."

Kaen just shrugs his shoulders, and snorted, "Pfft, lucky shot. I bet you feel proud you beat an already tired Saiyan. Believe me, I've been in worse shape than that and I'm not dead yet."

Flute responded simply before returning to his meditation, "How unfortunate."

Kaen smirked at this, the look lost on the Namek, "That almost sounded like a joke."

Flute response is swift, "And you almost pass as sentient, who knew?"

Kaen chuckled a little at this, clearly amused with this banter, "Well isn't this fun, a Namek with somewhat of a sense of humour."

Flute's eyes opened again as he asked, "You've met others?" but he is met with a shrug and a half-hearted, "I've been around, seen a fair bit, but no more Nameks than I could count on one hand."

"I see," Flute replied somewhat grimly.

"And even then," Kaen continued, "not many are willing to converse with someone like me."

Flute looked rather bitter as he responded, "I can see why. But then I have known few of your kind to travel alone, or without bearing the marking of King Cold."

Kaen paused, looking slightly pensive, retorted, "And with good reason, not many have had the, shall we say, experiences that I have with the Cold empire."

Pi stopped what she was doing upon hearing this, and even Flute, seemed to be genuinely interested in what Kaen's thoughts are on the matter, "Care to share any of those? I myself haven't had the most favourable time with King Cold's men."

Kaen sighed before sitting down, and beginning his tale. "Alright, where to begin... I guess it started on my first mission, and, ironically, my last. Turns out I was set up. We walked right into an ambush, 5-on-1 odds in their favour, and the bastards killed all 9 of my men..."

Kaen paused in his tale, as if letting this sink in, or maybe to gauge their reactions, and he allowed his head to fall, and his mind to wander to that fateful battle. Flute's reaction was a simple "Interesting..." while Pi's, like her, is more animated, as she gasped a little and muttered, "Cowards."

Kaen raised his head again, this time donning a smirk, as he continued, "But not without casualties of their own. As far as I know, there's only one left, assuming he survived. Not many do survive a brush with my disks, but it wasn't a clean shot, so who knows."

Flute nodded his head, and merely said "An interesting story."

Kaen shook his head a little, ending his tale, "I still don't know who ordered the hit. Could've been Vegeta, could've been Frieza, hell, could've been anyone. Just so long as they think I'm dead I'm happy."

At this, Pi shook her head. "King Vegeta wouldn't do that to his own kind."

Kaen directed a serious, and grim, expression at her, and countered with, "I wouldn't be so sure of that Pi. I've heard of Vegeta ordering the deaths of anyone who might become stronger than his son. Of course, it's just hearsay and rumour, but all rumour has some fact behind it."

Pi fell silent, seemingly lost for words. Flute, however, had no such problem, as he nodded and said, "Sounds like someone was afraid of your strength."

Kaen's smirk returned full force, "Well, I always have been told I was strong for my age."

Flute grinned, or at least grinned as much as a Namek ever does, and added, "I'm sure it's to make up for what you lack in intelligence."

Kaen's smirk faltered, only to be replaced with a glare directed at the green man as he barked out, "Don't make me blast you!"

Flute's grin didn't change an iota, "That didn't work too well last time if I recall."

Kaen's face adopted a smug and prideful look as he replied, "Hey, a Saiyan never backs out of a fight. You really think you were the only thing I fought yesterday? Please! I'm a mercenary, I kill things for a living."

Pi nodded her head firmly, obviously in total agreement, "That's right, and this time Kaen won't go so easy on you."

Flute raised a single, hairless eyebrow, and muttered, "Now I remember why your race annoyed me so..."

Kaen looked back at him with interest, asking, "Oh, you've met our kind before? Or was that purely from the Cold army?"

Flute shrugged, "One or two in the Cold armies, they got in my way."

Kaen allowed himself a chuckle, missed by his comrades, thinking to himself, 'Yeah, they'll do that...' before asking aloud "Don't 'spose you caught any names? I might have known some of them."

Flute just shook his head, but did respond with, "After I had beaten them, Cold's men referred to them as low class Saiyans."

Kaen let out a breath he didn't realise he was holding, and said, "Ah, then no. I was born first class, so I never had much contact with third class Saiyans."

"I see, and I suppose your friend was the same too," Flute said, more of a statement than a question, but Pi answered with a nod anyway, and a serious look on her face.

"There was one though," Kaen recalled, "Bardock was his name, and he's a brilliant man. From what I heard he was born third class and raised to first because of his skills."

Pi nodded her head in agreement, "He was the one who invented the artificial light ability."

Flute, as he seemed to do often, responded simply with "Interesting," before slipping back into his meditation, and continuing searching the planet with his mind, his quest weighing heavily on his mind.

The two Saiyans, realising that Flute was obviously out of their conversation, got themselves comfortable and slipped back into their native tongue to catch up. After a few moments of comfortable silence, Kaen asked the question, **"So, anything exciting happen in my absence?"**

Pi went a little quiet at this, and looked down, before responding, **"After I heard you were killed, but they couldn't find your body... I left Vegeta-Sei."**

The many months apart from her seems to have dulled his ability to deduce her emotions, and he fails to realise that she's embarrassed, instead thinking her sad, and his look softens, his voice becoming soothing, even in the rough dialect, **"Why so sad, as you can see I'm fine."**

Pi looked up, a shy smile on her face, **"I know, I'm glad you're okay."**

Kaen smiled back, and in an effort to lighten the moment, came back with **"You should have faith. It'll take more than five to one odds to take me out,"** and stuck his chest out in a mocking show of bravado.

It has the desired effect, as Pi giggled softly, and said, **"I know, I never doubted you for a second."**

Kaen looked back at her, a slight smile still on his face, and asked, **"So, do you know how everyone else took it?"**

She shook her head, saying, **"Most people were sad, but they knew you died in battle, the true Saiyan way. There were some who didn't believe it, like me. I know your family, especially Oran and Lime, didn't believe it for a second."**

A brief look flashed across his face, a look full of sadness and regret, but it was quickly hidden again, so quickly that Pi has trouble believing it was even there. He laughed again, a short, forced laugh, obviously trying to get the conversation back onto happier subjects by saying **"Heh, I bet they'd get a laugh outta my last words to the survivor."**

Her face perked up, and with a curious expression asked **"What was that?"** Kaen looked distant for a second, seeming to search through his memories, and begins his little anecdote.

**"Well, I'd just diced his last two men with one of my disks, not to mention severing his right arm and using almost all of my energy reserves in the process, when he prepared a blast to finish me off, and said "Any last words?" Well, I just looked up at him, face full of pride and defiance, spat on him and jeered "Yeah, shoot straight ya bastard!""** Pi held a serious, and almost disbelieving, face for all of 10 seconds until it sank in, and she burst out into a fit of giggles. Kaen's look held for about 5 seconds longer, before he joined her in laughter.

The two spent the rest of the day talking, whether it be talking about the past 12 months, or reminiscing about their time together on Vegeta-Sei, only stopping for meals, before retiring for the night. And in all that time, Flute never, not so much as once, even flinched.

o-o-o

Kaen awakened with the first rays of the sun, and after allowing himself a yawn, cast his gaze around the field. Flute was still where he was the night, and day, before, levitating partially off the ground, obviously in deep meditation. Kaen himself was lying against a fairly large rock, where he fell asleep the night before, and Pi had, sometime during the night, wound up fast asleep with her head on his shoulder. Kaen looked down upon her fondly, seeing a small smile on her face, and the slight wriggling of her tail indicating she was still dreaming, and obviously having a nice dream.

Kaen carefully got up, making sure not to wake her up, and begins his morning exercise/training, letting his mind wander as he went through his kata. For the first time in twelve months, the nightmares that haunted him were gone, and he couldn't help but attribute that to her presence. However, he can't help feeling like having her around him will bring those nightmares to life...

Unbeknownst to Kaen, Flute began watching him when he started training, and when he began practicing his ki attacks, Flute, who had stood quietly moments before, broke the silence by saying, "You'll draw attention to our area."

Kaen reabsorbed the ki, stopping his attack almost before it began, looked over at him and scoffed, "Pfft, they seem to find me anyway, I'd just speed up the process. 'Sides, nothing like a good fight of a morning."

Flute gained a thoughtful look. "You seem to like a challenge," he commented.

Kaen grinned, punching the air a couple of times before saying, "That's an understatement. It's in my blood, and I grasp it with both hands."

The thoughtful look strengthened. "I see. Very well then, I have a proposal."

An intrigued look crossed Kaen's features, and he raised an eyebrow, responding simply with, "Oh?"

It was then that Flute told him of his quest. "I am searching for various artefacts that are important to my people, called 'dragon balls'. However, they have been scattered around the galaxy, and I could use the help of someone like you."

Kaen seemed to mull this over before replying, "Hmm...sounds interesting, but besides some fun busting heads, what's in it for me?"

"Well," Flute began, "Other than 'busting heads', you will most likely be busting the heads of Cold's men in many cases, and I can offer you asylum on Namek from anyone who would hunt you after this, as well as a large reward."

Kaen grinned ferally, obviously taken with this idea, and answered as such; "You had me at 'Cold's men.'"

Flute grinned a little bit himself, saying, "Yes, I assumed that much. But we do have one minor detail to work out."

Kaen sighed a little and looked over at the still-sleeping Pi, various emotions playing across his face as he asked, "You mean her?"

Flute nodded an affirmative, expressing his concerns. "I don't know of her skills, whether or not we take her with us will be up to you... she seems quite attached to you however."

Kaen sighed again, his voice dropping to a near whisper as he looked down at her, "That's the problem, as much as I'd love to have her around, I'm not sure if I could fight to my fullest if I had to worry about her as well as myself."

"You said yourself, she is a high-born, like you, wouldn't she be able to look after herself?" Flute reasoned.

"She might, certainly," Kaen agreed, "but it's been four years since I last saw how she faired in combat."

Flute answered his question himself, "So, she shall remain here then?"

Kaen nodded, a slight grin on his face as he said, "I'm not sure she'll like that, but it might be for the best."

Flute nodded his head in understanding. "Then let us be off, my ship is nearby... do you wish to leave her a note or message of some sort?"

He nodded his head, closing his eyes, "I should leave something...hmm...I know!"

He pulled a piece of paper and a pen out of his coat, and after sprawling something down, he removed a smallish pouch from an internal pocket and uses it to weigh the note down on the rock. He kissed her on the forehead, whispering **"Goodbye,"** before standing upright, looking over at Flute, and saying, "Let's go, before she wakes up." Flute nodded, taking off in the direction of his ship, and, after one last look at the still sleeping girl, and a slight shake of his head, Kaen followed after him.

Flute arrived at his ship, fairly similar to most Namek ships in its beast-like structure, the difference being this one's size, being rather larger than normal. When Kaen touched down moments later, Flute, who already has his ship nearly ready to go, stated, "I imagine you have a ship yourself."

Kaen just nodded, brushing off the statement with, "Yeah, I do, but you needn't worry about it," before producing a remote control from another pocket in his coat, of which there seem to be no end, and pressing a couple of buttons.

Flute raised a single eyebrow at this odd behaviour, but Kaen just grinned back knowingly, as a rather loud noise could be heard approaching, which soon turned out to be a smallish spherical ship, more of an escape capsule in appearance, stopping in a hover not 50 feet away. Flutes other eyebrow rose, and he remarked, "Interesting. I do believe that I have room for that in my cargo hold."

Kaen's grin became a little more relieved at that, commenting, "Good, those things aren't all that comfortable on long trips."

Flute nodded once, saying, "There is ample room on my ship to practise your katas and stances, but please refrain from using ki attacks while on board."

Kaen, faking disappointment, pouted and said, "Aww, you're no fun."

Flute, obviously not getting the joke, said offhandedly, "Well if you wish to be sucked into the void of space, be my guest. Now, please load your pod onto my ship and we can be off."

Kaen raised an eyebrow, muttering, "Obviously not one for sarcasm..." before pressing a couple more buttons and loading the ship up.

o-o-o

Back at the camp, Pi woke up, yawning and stretching out her joints, her tail extending fully then wrapping around her waist again, before she noticed that she's alone. Looking around, she found the bag, and the note which read: **"I'm sorry I couldn't say goodbye in person, but I have work to do, and I knew you'd never let me go. When I think it's safe, I'll meet you at the planet at the co-ord's above. I'm sorry, but I can't bring you into my world just yet,"** as well as having grid co-ordinates at the top of the page.

Too shocked to do much else, she scrambled to her pack, getting her scouter out after a little trouble and putting it on, scanning the horizon in the hope Kaen was still on the planet. In an almost sobbing voice, she squeaked out "Baka..." The scouter detected him somewhere to the west, and wasting no time she grabbed her pack and took to the sky, heading to, hopefully, catch up before it's too late...

o-o-o

Flute, noting her movement, commented, "If you want to keep her safe, we had better move now."

Kaen, who had also spotted it, nodded his head, "I agree, let's move."

They both hurry aboard, Kaen muttering "I should really work out how to hide myself better..." and leaving an after image of himself on the ground outside. The entry ramp closed, and the ship shot off the planet with a sonic boom.

By the time Pi arrived at the sight, all that remains to even indicate they were there is the image of Kaen, which Pi appeared to assault with a large hammer after finding it false, shouting "Baka!"

Kaen jumped a bit, and looks around frantically, muttering, "What the... I could've sworn I just heard her..."

Flute laughed a little, saying, "I heard something like 'Baka.' Mean anything to you?"

Kaen paled a little, and sighs. "Hmm... Guess that means she's not going to be quite as happy when we meet up again..."

From his position at the controls, Flute remarked, "Perhaps. We are in for a long trip, make yourself comfortable." Kaen leaned up against one of the walls, arms crossed, and attempted to meditate, but his attempts are for naught when Flute piped up again with, "There's no food on board. I felt I should warn you."

Kaen's eyes shot open for a moment, before he groaned and said bitterly, "I figured as much. Oh well, I can last a while. Just because we like to eat doesn't mean we need to."

Flute nodded, saying, "So I don't need to offer that we will stop on a planet when you feel the need to feed? Very good."

Kaen growled, already regretting his earlier remarks, before adding to them with, "I can last until we get there, but when we get where we're going I _am_ going to need food, and lot's of it, even if I need to kill, gut and cook it myself. One of the perks of being on the run is you learn to make do with what you've got on hand instead of pining for what you don't."

Flute nodded again. "Very good. I need to meditate in order to find the exact location of the artefact, so far we are only heading in its general direction, and so silence is appreciated." At this, he fell silent, and begins to meditate.

Kaen nodded, mostly to himself given Flute's lack of attention at this point, and resumed his rest position, letting his mind wander back to the dark-haired girl he left behind for a second time...

End Chapter 02

To be continued...


	4. Reunions, Meetings, and Liberations

--- The Phoenix Chronicles ---

Chapter 03 - Reunions, Meetings and Liberations

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He looked at his older brother, saying goodbye to his family and friends. He always said goodbye to him last, but he knew that showed that he meant the most to his brother. He may have only been just over one year old, but he'd said goodbye no less than seven times. This time however, this time felt... different.

His brother turned to him and got down on one knee, sweeping him up into a big, brotherly hug. He pulled him away, keeping his hands on his shoulders, and smiled, a smile that he alone saw. **"Now Kaen, I want you to be good for mum and dad, all right?"** asked his brother.

Kaen beamed back at him, chirping, **"Of course I will Korin, I'm always good!"**

Korin chuckled a little, managing to get out **"Of course you are squirt"** between laughs.

His face turned serious for a moment, as he made one more request. **"Kaen, I want you to promise me you'll take care of them when I'm gone."**

He looked back at his brother with a serious expression of his own, pondering over his brother's words, but wasting no time before replying. **"I promise big brother. I'll make you proud."**

Korin's smile returned, and he pulled him into a hug once more, whispering in a voice for his ears alone. **"I'll always be proud of you, so long as you're happy, and I'll always be there for you, watching over you, keeping you safe."**

Korin bid one last farewell before setting off, his mission could wait no longer. Kaen watched his brother fly away, his words filling his thoughts. 'He said 'when I'm gone,' not 'while I'm gone.' He makes it sound like... he's not coming back...' As Korin disappeared from view, his smiling face filled Kaen's vision, his last statement ringing loudly in his ears. He closed his eyes, the full significance of his brothers words leaving him feel empty inside, his eyes brimming with tears he refused to shed.

He gave once last look at the sky, a single tear falling down his cheek, and said his final goodbye. 'Farewell brother. I hope you can find happiness in the next life.'

o-o-o

He gazed out the window, the emptiness of space all around. The same emptiness that claimed his brother, and tore him from his family. He closed his eyes and sighed, turning away from the window, and directing his eyes to his companion. For five days the Namek hadn't moved from his meditation, only pausing every now and then to change the heading slightly, or to take a drink of water from the flask he carried. For five days he was left alone with his thoughts and regrets, and the silence was really starting to get to him.

The silence wasn't meant to last, however, and his stomach soon began protesting to having gone five days without food. Flute, meditation broken by the echo of a growling stomach, glanced over at him with a raised eyebrow. Kaen just looked back in mild indignation, and shrugged his shoulders. "Well, it _has_ been five days. Even _I_ have my limits."

"I sense we are nearly there, and I don't like being wrong, so a few more hours of silence and I think we can pin-point it," Flute said, mildly annoyed at having to ask for silence.

Kaen just shrugged again, saying, "Well, I'll do my best, but I can't vouch for my stomach."

Flute just returned to his meditation without another word. In an effort to take his mind off his hunger, he began his kata for the fifth time in as many days. His efforts seemed to pay off, as before too long Flute changed the ship's heading again, this time directly for a near-by planet, and removed himself from his meditation shortly after.

Kaen cracked his knuckles before starting to stretch, beginning a real workout rather than merely something to pass the time. Flute looked at him with a raised eyebrow, as he is often want to do, and said, "Getting excited are we?"

Kaen let out a feral grin as he punched the air a couple of times, before remarking, "It's been a while since I've truly let loose."

Flute smirked a little bit himself before saying "Then you will be pleased to learn, by these satellites, that this is a Cold Empire dedicated planet."

If it were possible, Kaen's grin would've widened at that, replying with "Thanks, you've just made my day."

o-o-o

The ship landed on the planet in a mountain range outside of civilisation, setting down in the middle of a canyon to hide it from unwanted guests. Flute gathered his cloak before looking over at Kaen and saying "They won't appreciate us being here without an explanation, so be ready."

Kaen just threw his trench coat on, cracking his knuckles again and replied smugly "I was born ready! Let's go say 'hi' to the welcoming party."

The two exited the ship, Flute leading the way towards the mouth of the canyon, where three rather weak-looking guards awaited, blaster rifles at the ready. Kaen merely yawned in their general direction, when one of them, obviously either the leader, or just the most brave/stupid stepped forward and said, in what was clearly an attempt at a commanding voice, "Who are you, and why did you land without clearance?"

Kaen glanced over at Flute, a bored expression on his face, and said lazily "Do you wanna show them our clearance, or should I?"

Flute looked back with a barely detectable smirk on his face, replying, "I think you will be more suited to the task."

Kaen nodded once, saying "Ok then," before looking back at the guards, a smirk firmly entrenched on his features. The two outside guards stepped back a bit and started fidgeting, clearly intimidated by him, but the leader either refused to feel fear, or just isn't smart enough. In any case he didn't live long enough to learn his error as Kaen threw his hands back in trademark fashion, screaming, "Here's my clearance! Inferno Blast!" and sending a gout of flame that incinerated the man where he stood, and the ensuing explosion almost wiped out the other two as well. They dove to the side, each making a show of bravado at what was clearly their last stand, and each firing their blasters at him. Only one of them got even remotely close, and he slapped the blast away like an annoying insect.

He raised both his hands palms up, pointing one at each guard, a red ball of ki forming in front of each palm as he shouted "Twin Blaze!" A thin red beam fired from each hand, each heading towards different targets, and before they realised they'd been fired upon, the two remaining guards were reduced to carbon ash. Kaen cracked his neck to the side, readjusted his coat, and looked back to Flute as if nothing had happened. "Where to now?"

Flute nodded a little, and lead the way out of the canyon and into a large citadel, filled with various creatures, and large amounts of roaming guards, none of which seemed to be carrying scouters. Kaen followed, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible for a man travelling with a green man, but they blended in reasonably well considering the large diversity of life forms on a Cold controlled world.

Flute stopped, looking at a large tower extending above the citadel, saying "In there, we will find it in there."

Kaen just nodded, and said, "Lead the way."

Flute paused for a minute before saying, "Perhaps we should stop at an inn. They may have a restaurant."

Kaen's eyes lit up at that, and he exclaimed, "Now you're talking!"

o-o-o

As they entered the inn, Flute paused a moment and looked around, as if sensing something off, but quickly shrugged it off and the two took a table. Unbeknownst to the pair, a dark figure, seated in the corner, watched their every move, seemingly keeping it's gaze on Flute for a moment longer, but made no sign of acting on anything.

A young and pretty looking woman stopped by their table, glancing at Kaen and smiling for a minute, before saying cheerily, "Hello, can I take your order?"

Kaen looked through the menu thoroughly, before shrugging and saying disinterestedly "One of everything sounds good to me," while Flute just said "Water." She pauses a moment at the odd nature of their order, but quickly hurried off.

Kaen glanced around the room, silently hoping that there's no-one who might recognise him, or at least any who would cause a scene, and noticed all the waitresses in the place, and the bar maid, looking directly at him and smiling. He smiled back half-heartedly, then looked away, groaning quietly "Great, just what I need, more of them..."

Flute noticed their looks, and after the waitress had brought them his water, and the first part of Kaen's order, he smirked and said, "Maybe your eating habits will scare them off."

Kaen just shrugged, saying "Oh well," and started inhaling his food in true Saiyan fashion. However, this didn't seems to put the women off any, judging by what Kaen and Flute could hear over the sounds of Kaen's meal disappearing faster than it can reach the table.

Flute just drank his water as he watches Kaen blush slightly from what his ears picked up, but his eating doesn't slow one iota. Flute smirked, saying, "A Saiyan blushing, will wonders never cease... other than the fact you haven't choked yet."

The Saiyan swallowed, and pauses in his long over-due feast, and stated, "One: Saiyans can't choke on food, we have a passage between our nose and lungs that ignores the throat, allowing us to breathe with our mouths full, and two: you mention this to anyone, and a slow painful death will be welcome relief from the hell I'll put you through." After finishing his little speech, he promptly resumed eating as if he never stopped.

Flute laughed quietly to himself, saying, "This amuses me greatly, especially if we run into Pi again..."

Kaen glared at the Namek, pausing again in his meal as he growled, "Do you have a death wish green bean?"

The Namek just passed off the threat, stating, "Your food is getting cold," before sipping his water. The Saiyan managed to hold his glare for just long enough to process the Nameks remark, and finished up his first course.

When the waitress returned with more of Kaen's meal, Flute manages to stop her before she left again, and asked "Tell me miss, what's in that tower?"

She paused and said "That's where the planetary governor lives, but he's just a pawn for King Cold, everyone knows that."

He nodded, and said, "I don't suppose you know much more about it?"

She shook her head, "Only that it's heavily guarded, the place is filled with guards. I hear that there's a ton of relics and treasures in there too."

At this, Flute nodded, and the waitress ran off to continue bringing out the feast. Kaen, meanwhile, was tearing into the food as though it were his last meal. It _had_ been five days after all. Flute finished his water and stood up, declaring, "I'll be back soon, pay for the meal when you're done... or at least flirt with the landlady, so we can get out of it, I'll leave it to you," before leaving.

Kaen waved half-heartedly at him, too absorbed in his meal to be bothered doing anything else. The mysterious figure in the corner stood and left, appearing to follow after Flute, but the waitresses were too busy to notice, still looking at Kaen and giggling softly.

o-o-o

Flute headed past the market, buying a cloak as he goes so as to conceal his appearance from onlookers, and headed in the direction of the tower. And if one were to watch, they'd notice the cloaked figure from the inn following shortly after him, making sure to stay out of sight, but following none-the-less.

o-o-o

Back at the inn, the waitress brought out the last of Kaen's meal, almost one hour after he first arrived, and he smiled briefly at her before tearing into it. She smiled back shyly, blushing a little, before returning to the huddle of waitresses, still speaking in hushed whispers and giggles, all gazing in his direction. His ears could pick up fragments of their conversation, when he chose to listen.

Waitress 1: "He so cute, he smiled at me too!"  
Waitress 2: "He eats so fast though..."  
Waitress 3: "That's okay, I still think he'd make a great boyfriend"  
Waitress 4: "He looks so strong!"  
Waitress 1: "And handsome."  
Waitress 3: "I bet he'd really know how to treat a girl"  
All waitresses: "_sigh_"

Kaen tried his hardest to ignore them, thinking 'Wonderful. Why is it that everywhere I go women seem to keep throwing themselves at me? At least these ones are keeping their distance for now. At least Pi's not around to see it...' Almost immediately upon thinking this, a cold shiver ran up his spine, and he was filled with a sense of foreboding. Finishing up his meal, he called for the cheque, and the embittered old mistress who ran the place brought the hefty bill over, it's total cost surprising even him. 'Well, I 'spose I did go five days without food... note to self, never do that again...' he mused to himself, before flashing a grin at the waitresses, and using a combination of his speed and after image technique to flee the place without paying.

And none too soon, for no sooner had he left the place than in walked Pi, who did not look pleased in any way whatsoever. One of the waitresses noticed her entering, whispering to the others "Gee, she looks pissed..." before crying out in surprise, along with the others, as the girl slammed the 'hottie' with her energy hammer, the image dispersing instantly, with a cry of "Baka!"

Kaen caught wind of her cry, and proceeded to run faster, while Pi, noticing that he was not there, and that she had been fooled once again, suddenly looked more upset than angry, and stormed out of the place, leaving the waitresses in a stupor as to what happened to him, and the mistress in an uproar over the bill going unpaid.

o-o-o

Flute stared up at the tower, trying to sense where the dragon ball in the tower lay, when he felt a presence trying to invade his mind, or probe it at least. He hurriedly blocked it, and turned around trying to find its source when he spotted Kaen running towards him at near super-sonic speeds. Kaen screeched to a halt upon spotting Flute, sliding for a good few feet before regaining his balance and loosing his momentum.

Flute just raised his eyebrow, saying, "I can not wait to hear you explain this."

Kaen took a second to catch his breath before panting out, "Remember that complication you mentioned when we started this?"

Flute paused a moment, as if expecting Kaen to continue, before prompting him with "Yes... And?"

Kaen stood upright, recovered from his little jog, and muttered, "Well... some how she seems to have found me... it's a good thing I fled the restaurant when I did, 'coz she found my little illusion... again."

Flute couldn't help but smirk at this, stating, "She's more resourceful than I thought, perhaps she could be of more use to us."

"Yeah well, you tell her. I don't think she'll be very happy to see me," Kaen said indignantly, and with a hint of fear in his voice, one he'd deny existed if questioned about it.

If anything Flute's smirk widened, and he waited a while before replying, "She doesn't look it."

Kaen's eyes widened in fright, and he glanced around frantically, reaching out with all of his senses to find her, but he was far too late. Just as he found her and spun around, he was slammed over the head by a large hammer shaped object, getting crushed by the awesome devastation and anger of it's wielder, who made a slight, "Hmph... Baka."

Kaen rubbed his head a little, the hammer actually managing to hurt even his hard head, and smiled weakly up at her, stuttering, "Uh... hey... um... what brings you here?"

Flute burst out laughing, making no effort to hide his amusement, and Kaen just thought to himself 'mental note: hurt green man later...'

Her hammer seeming to have vanished, she looked down at him, a stern look on her face, and said simply, "I followed you."

Still a little nervous, he managed to get out "Uh... how?"

She smiled, and leaned down to face him directly; superiority etched all over her features, and proclaimed "I put a tracer on your ship."

He slapped his forehead, muttering "Kuso, why didn't I check the ship..." to himself, before looking up at her again and smiling, this time a genuine smile, and saying "You've improved since I left."

She stood upright and giggled a little, "Thanks."

Their moment was lost abruptly as Flute interrupted with "If you two are quite done..."

Kaen stood up and brushed himself off, sending a glare Flute's way, before looking back at Pi and asking "So, I 'spose you wanna tag along now?"

Pi nodded, replying, "That's what I intend to do."

After making a show of sighing dramatically, he resigned himself to his fate and said, "Well, if you insist. But I must warn you, my life isn't exactly safe, even by our standards."

She just grabbed hold of his arm. "Don't worry, I'll protect you!" she chirped perkily, causing Flute to burst out laughing again.

Kaen glared at Flute again, adding another entry to the 'Reasons to hurt the Namek' list in his head, before snapping, "I can take care of myself just fine, and have been up until now. I'm more worried about you."

She just smirked, "I can take care of myself, trust me."

Flute's expression turned serious, the time for fun obviously passed, and stated, "The item we're looking for is in this building, and I'd like to get it as soon as possible."

Kaen glanced at him, putting on his 'game face' and replied, "Fine green man, what's the plan."

Flute began his run-down. "Well its day time, many of the guards will be active, and broad day-light makes for a difficult escape, but as it is day, they won't be so angry for getting them out of bed, so we storm in, get what we are after and leave. Any questions?"

Kaen just shrugged, responding, "Sounds good to me. Any idea on numbers?"

"Possible a few dozen, not much," was his answer.

Flute spared them one more look, saying, "It's on the top floor, are you ready?"

Pi just nodded silently, while Kaen cracked his knuckles, bared his fangs, and said, "Whenever you are."

However, before they could take so much as one step, the shadowed figure, covered almost entirely by a cloak, who had been watching them all this time, stepped out of hiding and said to Flute "Excuse me, but are you Namekian?" in an obviously female voice.

Flute stopped, sizing her up, but the cloak prevented him from getting much, besides the fact that she's quite strong, as her ki attested to. "Yes I am. You've been watching me for some time now, and I'd like to know why." he replied after a moment.

She reached up to her hood a little hesitantly, saying "There's a good reason for that..." before drawing it back, revealing red hair, tied back into a ponytail that continued into her cloak, covering pointed ears and green, Namek-esque features. "My name is Viola, and I've been searching for anyone from the Namek race."

Flute, who's face rarely if ever showed any emotion bar amusement, froze into a look of shock, jaw hanging wide enough to fit a fist in, at this revelation. Kaen glanced at her, a curious expression on his face, as he asked "So what does that make you then?"

"I am a Namekin, the sister race of the Nameks," she replied, never once taking her eyes off Flute, who had managed to compose himself somewhat, but still seemed unable to respond.

At this point, Pi decided to make herself noticed, piping up, "I heard that Nameks were only male..."

Viola nodded, saying, "Well, our legends say that many generations ago, there were both sexes, but the two separated in an effort to harness our true power, becoming asexual to facilitate this."

Flute scratched his head a little, and manages to get out, "I do not believe I've heard that particular legend..."

She nodded again, saying, "There is much both races can learn from each other, I believe. However, a full explanation would take much time, and I believe you had some business to attend to. I would like to help."

Flute nodded slightly, seemingly back in full control of his motor functions. "Well them, let's hurry. I do not wish to be here any longer than needed."

Kaen just shrugged a little, saying, "Whatever gets me off this rock faster is good by me," indifferently, while Pi just nods her assent, obviously in agreement with the two guys.

"Then let's go, Kaen, lead the way. I am sure knocking out these minions of the Cold Empire is your forte," Flute said, looking back at the tower. The Saiyan in question grinned, and started walking towards the door, preparing to make a dramatic entrance in true Saiyan fashion, but before he could, the steel door was torn from it's hinges by an unseen force. He spun around in time to see their newest member lowering her right hand, a slight smirk on her face.

Pi looked over at her, bright-eyed, and exclaimed "Wow, didn't even see the ki trail!"

Viola smiled a little before replying, "That's because there was no ki, that was telekinesis. Focusing using one's arms just makes it easier."

Flute, however, did not seem amused, and his head seemed to expand to nearly thrice-normal size as he shouted, "We have just lost our element of surprise, and now they're all here," indicating the two-dozen men now in the doorway.

However, before he or anyone else can react he is struck down by what appears a hammer similar to the one Pi wielded, although created purely out of lightning, as she yelled back "DON'T SHOUT AT ME!"

Kaen glanced nervously at the hammer, knowing full well just how much they can hurt, as his little run-in early can attest to, before stammering, "We have bigger problems than your petty squabbling."

The two-dozen guards immediately surrounded them, one the one who appeared to be in charge declared, "No one move!"

Kaen just shook his head, muttering, "They just keep lining up to die..." and the tension in the air built until you could cut it with a knife. Then, with an almost audible snap, all hell broke loose.

Pi crossed her hands in front of her chest, shouting "Disruption of Gaia!" before throwing her hands down. The earth began to shake, throwing several of them off balance, and bolts of ki shot out from under the ground, incinerating four of them instantly.

Kaen whistled in an impressed manor before taking to the sky and facing the guards, hands crossed in front of his stomach, palms facing, with a small, white ki disk between them. His cry of "Balefire Storm!" rang out as he threw his right hand forward, and the disk launched, nearly tripling in size, and shattering into twelve.

The flurry of super-hot disks sped towards the guards, scattering them, and five of them were lucky enough to only be grazed by the disks, able to stay in the fight. Another four were not so fortunate, loosing a limb in the attack, and putting them out of the fight, while one unfortunate soul got his head taken clean off, the wound severing cleanly as though the two parts were never together. The last two disks, however, missed entirely, slicing through the surrounding structures before embedding themselves in the ground.

Flute lifted his arm towards another cluster of guards, his fist clenched, and formed a white-hot ball in his hand, shouting "Lightzone Grenade" as he threw it at them. One guard was killed in the initial hit, and another two fell in the blast.

Viola held her right hand in front of her heart, a transparent blue ball of ki forming, throwing it forward with a cry of "Soul Prison!" If one were to look closely, they would've seen a ghostly image of Viola trailing the clear blue beam as it streaked towards the guards, exploding upon impact, a black, two-dimensional vortex appearing above them, and the transparent images of three of the guards, their very souls, were drawn into the vortex before it closes, their lifeless bodies falling back to the ground.

Two of the guards, the only two still able to act, attempted to attack the enraged Saiyan male above them, whose back was turned to them, with basic blasts, but before they hit he spun around, dodging one blast and back-handing the other away in a single, fluid motion, sending them a death glare.

Pi, meanwhile, extended her arms towards the ground in front of the still-disoriented guards shouting "Ground Force!" and launching four of them into the air. Three of them land awkwardly, shattering a limb or two, while the last lands harshly on his neck, severing his spine and killing him instantly.

Viola folded her arms in front of her, static dancing between her fingers as she slides them away until her hands rest above one another as if she were holding a ball. Moments later she is, as the static coalesces into a bluish-white ki ball, flickering with electricity. With a cry of "Thunder Dragon!" a blue thunder serpent blasts out of the sphere, shooting towards a guard with lightning fast speed, coiling around him and sinking it's fangs into the guys shoulder, seemingly draining him of his life force, and dropping the corpse upon finishing it's 'meal.'

Flute glared at the last active guard, and without another word began to rapidly fire beams of ki from his eyes. As the guard attempted to dodge the blasts, an effort that proves futile moments later when he gets struck down, one of the recovering guards is caught in the crossfire and joined his fallen comrades.

Kaen faced the last two guards, throwing his hands back, gathering ki and throwing them forward again before yelling, "Let's end this! Inferno Blast!" Unfortunately, his blast streaked past them and tore into the building, causing the earth to tremble as it exploded, and engulfing the remaining guards in the flames.

Flute relaxed a little as the last of the guards were finished off, saying "All of you wait here, I'll get what we are after then we can leave; there will be people here shortly to come after us, so be ready to leave and quickly" before darting into the building, using his speed to race past the still-raging flames.

Kaen glanced over at the others as the after effects of his attack started to die down, saying sheepishly "Um... guess my aim was a little off..."

Pi smiled a little at him, remarking, "That was so cool Kaen, you almost knocked the building down!"

Kaen laughed a bit, pausing in his pillaging from the fallen guards, as he said, "Wait 'til you see what I can do when I try to blow shit up!"

The Saiyan girl looked over at Viola, still smiling, and said, "Your attack looked great too!"

She received a smile in return, along with, "Thanks. That's the first time I've tried it in combat. No-one wanted me to practise against them..."

Pi just nodded, saying, "At least now you know it works."

Flute came out of the building, stashing a small orange orb inside his robes, saying, "Let's get going."

Kaen stands, finished his looting spree, and pauses long enough to mouth "You did great" to Pi before saying "Yes, let's."

Suddenly, one of the scouters Kaen liberated from the fallen guards started buzzing to life with signal relays, and he placed it over his ear in time to hear "...repeat, Guard tower alpha was attacked, the Ginyu force will be joining team beta to prevent the attacked escape..."

He paled a little, muttering "Kuso..." repeatedly, before looking at the others and blurting out "Guys, we gotta move. Now."

Flute had already started hovering, getting ready to leave, but Pi hesitated a bit, asking "Why?"

Kaen just looked at her and said, "Trust me, you don't wanna know," before grabbing her arm and taking to the sky, dragging her a little before she pulled away and started flying on her own, Flute flying ahead and Viola staying close to him.

o-o-o

They arrived back at the ship in no time, having gone faster this time than they did leaving it, and Flute stopped Kaen before they got on, saying, "I know we are rushing for good reason, but would you care to elaborate?"

Kaen's face turned grim, and he said but two words that caused Pi's face to pale in turn; "Ginyu Force."

Flute nodded, saying "We need to slow them down. Any ideas?"

Kaen just smirked back, replying, "Get this thing started, and I'll see about leaving them a little going-away present."

Flute headed to the controls, and prepared the ship for take off, as Kaen flew a little distance away, raising both hands above his head and focusing all of his energy into a ball of raging red ki above him, which began to grow exponentially. The others watched as the ball soon dwarfs him in size, and he reared back, screaming, "Let's see you bastards dodge this! FLAMES OF CHAOS!" before throwing the ball with all his might, sending it over the horizon.

With all the speed he can muster in his weakened state, he rushed back onto the ship, closing the hatch and screaming, "GO! NOW!"

The ship rocketed out of the planet's atmosphere with all the fury it can, and once it was safely out in space Flute called out "What the hell was that?"

Kaen staggered towards them, leaning heavily against the wall and panting out, "That's... my ultimate attack... cleanses... the planet... in an... extremely... violent way..."

From space it could clearly be seen. A large gaping hole appeared in the planets crust, cracks appearing over the planets surface, glowing red as lava spewed from each one; the crevasse he created with his attack, growing larger by the minute. Before long, the planet was reduced to a molten ball, useless to everyone, at least until the cycle of planetary life started anew again. However, due to the way the attack was designed, this normally lengthy process would be completed in just 10 years.

Kaen looked on with a weird sense of pride showing through his exhaustion, watching his attack begin the cycle anew, before Pi pulled him to a chair, smiling as best she could, and trotting off to find him something to drink. Kaen smiled at her weakly, too tired to do much else, and wheezed out, "Only... problem... is it totally drains me..."

Pi came back swiftly, glass of water in hand, and after he took a drink, put the glass aside and said, "Maybe you should rest a bit."

He smiled up at her again, and managed to get out "I think... I will..." falling asleep almost before the words left his mouth. Pi smiled as best she could again before wandering off and finding a blanket to cover him, making herself comfortable next to him and dozing against him, her head resting on his chest, while the Nameks just looked at each other, sat down, and began meditating, preparing themselves for the long journey ahead.

End Chapter 03

To be continued...


	5. Awkward Conversations

--- The Phoenix Chronicles ---

Chapter 04 - Awkward Conversations

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He looked at his parents, putting on a brave face as they said goodbye to him. They could never fool him. He knew how hard it must be to see your second son following in the footsteps of the one you lost a mere two years back. His mother gave him one last hug before he turned his gaze down to focus on the two kids latched on his legs, one boy, one girl.

He detached them gently, kneeling down to their level and pulling the both of them into a hug of his own, saying, **"Oran, Lime, I want you to be good while I'm gone, and don't give mum and dad too much grief, understand?"** Despite his serious, and somewhat stoic, tone, the two of them could feel the emotion behind it.

**"Don't worry Kaen."** Oran piped up, **"We'll look after everything while you're away."**

**"Yeah big brother, we'll make you proud."** Lime continued.

He smiled at them, a genuine smile, as he said, **"I already am, I always will be, and don't you forget that. I just hope I'm back in time to see you two turn one."**

A smile burst onto both of their faces as they said as one, **"That'd be so cool. It won't be the same without you."**

He spared them one last look before standing again, and walking over to the last person he needed to bid farewell, however much he may have hated the thought of leaving her. Pi, his long-time crush, looked back at him, tears clearly in her eyes, just waiting to be shed. The two embraced, and gave each other a quick kiss, resulting in much hooting and hollering from his team, standing not 5 metres from his family, and all of them friends of his late brother.

It seemed he and Pi were destined to be together almost from birth, and it seemed like they'd been teased about it from not long after. Both his and her family, as well as all their friends, both shared and individual, had all given them flack over it at some point. However, they'd both only just gotten up the courage to do anything about it a month or two ago, despite Pi still having two years left before she came of age. This didn't lessen the teasing any, if anything it only got worse now that they seemed to have accepted their fate.

Kaen groaned, looking over his shoulder at the guys and barking out, **"Hey, knock it off would ya!"** His arms, however, stayed in place around her waist.

**"Never gonna happen,"** one of the guys jeered back.

**"Get used to it,"** said another. **"It happened to us, and now we're doing it to you."**

**"Besides,"** said a third, **"I don't hear you denying anything."**

Fighting down the blush that threatened to overtake his face, he reluctantly released her, and immediately upon doing so hurled a weak blast at them. They all dived out of the way, and a fourth man said, **"Hey, save that energy for the battlefield kid."**

Kaen's right eye started twitching, and he growled out, **"Kid! Remember, you may be older than me, but I'm a higher rank that all of you, so I expect a little respect."**

**"Yes sir."** They all chirped out in a sing-song voice, but he chose to ignore them in favour of looking back at his girl.

The tears finally started to fall as she whispered out the first words she'd said to him all day, **"I'll miss you. Come back safe."**

He embraced her again, wiping away her tears with one hand, as he whispered his reply, **"I'm coming back. I promise, I'm never gonna leave you. No matter what may happen, not even death itself is going to stop me from being with you."**

She nodded, more unshed tears already waiting in her eyes, and he stepped back, gazing at his loved ones one more time before setting off. He had a mission to do, his first, and, while he didn't yet know it, his last.

o-o-o

About two hours had passed in the Namekian space ship, two hours devoid of all noise bar the hum of the ship, and the subtle sounds of breathing, both from the sleeping Saiyans and the meditating Nameks. Said Saiyans seem to have made themselves more comfortable, with Kaen now having one arm wrapped around the sleeping girl resting on his chest.

Deciding that she'd meditated enough for now, Viola decided to break the silence, asking with still-closed eyes, **'So, what exactly was it you were after?'**

Flute stands from his own meditation, walking over towards Viola and removing the orange orb from his robes. He held it out to her, asking, **'Do you know what this is?'**

She, in turn, opened her eyes and studied it a bit. The ball gleamed slightly, it's four orange stars clearly visible in the centre. Finally, she answered in a quiet tone, **'I've never seen anything quite like it... it seems almost... alive... but... I don't know what it could be...'**

He nodded slightly, saying, **'This, is a dragon ball.'**

Her eyes widened, as she gazed at the ball with what could only be described as awe in her eyes, whispering, **'But I thought that skill was lost when the races split...'**

He nodded again, **'Lost to yours maybe. I suppose there were only males of the dragon clan left after the split...'**

Viola seemed to struggle a little to find the words she wanted, but finally said, **'I've... I've read some of our ancient texts, and they spoke of the Eternal Dragon, but we haven't been able to summon it for as long as the records go back. So, that skill still exists in the male breed?'**

**'There are many things it seems the Namek-jin has forgotten, perhaps the same thing has happened to your side of things as well.'** Flute replied sagely, **'Any member of the dragon clan can make the balls necessary to summon the eternal dragon.'**

The look of awe returned, and she murmured, **'...Amazing... maybe elder Cellia was right... both sexes do need each other...'**

Flute looked away, a distant and, some would say, upset look on his face, replying, **'Perhaps they do...'  
**

Viola, not noticing his mood, suddenly gained a curious expression as she inquired, **'So what other skills do the Namek males have?'**

He made himself comfortable, settling into a meditative position, as he responded, **'What do you mean?'**

**'Well,'** she began, **'You mentioned that members of the dragon clan could make dragon balls. Are there any other special abilities any of the other clans have? I'm interested to see what skills the males gained, and what it may be possible to gain back.'**

**'Well, that's a hard question to answer, as I am not sure what makes out two sexes so different.'** was his response. He noted that it felt rather odd referring to his species as having two sexes after believing otherwise his entire life.

This time, Viola noticed his discomfort, and said, **'It feels weird knowing that we exist, doesn't it? I know, because I felt the same when I read the ancient texts, against our elder's wishes. We, the Namekin, have strong ties to the spirits around us. We can call on them for aid, to confuse or deceive our foes, or to make us stronger, but without them, much of our power weakens.'**

With a nod, Flute responded with, **'Whereas the Nameks have relied on the powers of their own mind and body to excel.'**

She donned a contemplative look, mulling that over a bit before saying, **'So... most, if not all, of your power is a direct relation to your strength?'**

**'That's correct.'**

**'I can see the uses in that... we have become too dependant on the spirits, and many of them know this. Vengeful spirits often choose to abandon us when we need them most, and without them many of our powers take so much more of our personal strength to use. But when they aid us... there's is nothing we cannot achieve.'** She replied somewhat proudly.

Flute's answer was a simple nod of the head and a, **'So I saw earlier.'**

She smiled a little, declaring, **'And that's just the beginning. The elder's have far stronger control than I. They make me look harmless in comparison, and I am the strongest of the current mature generation.'**

**'I am the same.'** He replied, **'I am most likely on of the strongest as well.'**

Her smile widened a fraction, and she said happily, **'So we may have a bit in common then. I look forward to learning more about you, and those like you.'**

For reasons he couldn't understand, seeing her smile like that made him feel awkward, but he kept his stony expression and, in an effort to lessen the feeling, closed his eyes in a partial meditation.

Viola joined him in meditating, flexing her mental might a little, and after a little while she queried telepathically _"So, can you use telepathy as well?"_

Flute responded in kind, _"Yes, I do believe so."_

Viola's nervousness was evident even through her mental voice, _"Um... this may sound naive, but... what species are our companions? We don't see many outsiders, and I have a lot to learn about the universe."_

Flute replied sombrely, _"They are the Saiya-jin, Saiyans, from the planet Vegeta-Sei, a powerful race of people, unrivalled in many forms of combat and hard to kill. Should you ever face one in combat at night, pray to your spirits that there will be no full moon."_

Her curiousness returned as she asked, _"What happens on a full moon?"_

_"The full moon gives them a horrible power: they become giant beasts, their power raises exponentially, and they can destroy a city in a matter of minutes."_ Even his mental voice shows just how grim he feels about the subject.

Viola pales at this as she replied, _"Well... maybe it's for the best that they never came to our planet... We have a moon in the sky ay all times, and a full moon occurs every 3 cycles."_

He nodded, saying, _"On Namek-Sei, there is only continuous day, we are surrounded by three suns."_

She laughed a little, _"How ironic. We have eternal night, and you have eternal day."_

She could almost hear the smile in his mental voice as he said, _"Indeed."  
_

He paused for a bit before asking, _"So, why have you come out from your world, seeking the male half of our race?"_

If it were any other race, you'd swear Viola blushed a little as she pondered how to phrase her answer. _"Well, for reasons unknown, many of our kind have been unable to... reproduce as we have been for generations, and I was given the task of... finding ways to remedy this. I was interested to see if it was happening to both sexes, or just us."_

Like a male of any race the large portion of the sexual undertones of the phrase was lost on Flute at this point, _"No, we are more than capable of the same method of reproduction as we have for many generations, but I don't see how we could..."_ Suddenly, the hidden meaning of Viola's statement hits him, and he trails off in a voice that doesn't believe what it's saying, _"...help."_

With this clarity he allows himself to get a good look at his companion for the first time. The heavy cloak she wore before now lay beside her, discarded to allow her to meditate easier, and allowing him to see her figure quite clearly. She wore a traditional Namek-style tribal gi, albeit in a female cut, but she had a definite feminine figure concealed under the black cloth, and for reasons unknown to him, he felt the blood rush to his head, making him feel like he was about to have a nose bleed.

Viola, attempting to ignore the reaction he had to her statement, tries to return to her meditation, but upon feeling his eyes upon her she opens them again, gazing at him with a curious look, clearly not understanding just what his look means.

Flute shut his eyes quickly and tightly, a vein beginning to throb in his forehead, and he tried to remain calm about it. Viola just shrugged, returning to her meditation as the Saiyans started to stir from their slumber. After smiling down at Pi, Kaen, sensing the slight unease in the air, looked over at, and between, the two Nameks, both still putting up a facade of meditation.

Flute is the first to drop the facade, looking over at Viola once more.

Feeling eyes upon her again, and 'overhearing' some of his unguarded thoughts, her eyes snap open again, and she said, "What? Is something wrong?"

Flute immediately angers, slapping his forehead and barking out, "I can't meditate like this!" before standing, and storming off to his chair by the controls.

Pi, noticing Kaen's arm around her, just smiled and drew it closer before dozing off again, seemingly ignoring the Nameks' behaviour. Kaen, however, just snickered slightly at Flute, working out what happened, and already beginning to formulate plans to help karma run it's course as he drifted back to sleep.

o-o-o

Two days passed in relative peace for the occupants of the Namek space ship. Well, about as much peace as could ever be had among four warriors confined to a rather small means of transportation. Their captain Flute meditates at the controls, searching for their next target, while Kaen, in keeping with his warrior nature, was stretching, and beginning his daily exercises.

The two females were currently trying to prepare a meal with what little things they have. Well, Pi was anyway, while Viola just looked on with amusement clearly evident on her face. Pi just looked over at her, saying, "You could try helping, or don't you know how to cook?"

Viola's amusement changed momentarily to disbelief as she replied, "You do realise that I drink only water, right?"

"That can't be very filling," commented Pi, looking somewhat bewildered.

Viola tried, and almost succeeded, to keep a smirk from her face as she said, "It beats having to spend half of every day preparing, and then consuming, something that only comes back out again hours later."

Pi gave a look of out-right indignation, saying, "At least I can earn the gratitude of a man rather than having him run away with embarrassment from me!"

Loud and hearty laughter could be heard throughout the ship, emanating from the Saiyan male in the self-dubbed 'work-out area' as he made his amusement known, while Viola just stuttered for a response, trying to fight down a blush all the while, and Flute just sweat-dropped. Giving up on trying to retain some dignity, Viola just stalked off, throwing her cloak across the room as she dropped heavily into her meditation.

Smirking with every part of her Saiyan pride showing in her eyes, Pi called out, "The meal is almost done" to Kaen. She needn't have bothering finishing the sentence, however, as the second the word 'meal' hit his ears he appeared not one foot from her, moving with such speed he seemed to almost teleport.

The meal spread out was only a light meal by Saiyan standards, but enough to get them through the day with the little activity that needed doing on the ship. Kaen practically drooled over himself at the smells wafting in the air, gratitude showing under the obvious hunger for those, like Pi, who know where to look, but, using some of the few manners he was taught as a child, he waited for her to begin before starting himself.

Pi smiled at him before sitting down to begin, clearly happy both at his approval and his conduct, and Kaen wasted no time in joining her, making sure to pace himself and eat only his share. Flute glanced back at them briefly, before turning back to the controls and muttering, "Pigs..." and punching in a new destination.

Viola laughed quietly, overhearing the comment that the two Saiyans' eating habits caused them to miss, and decided to have a little fun at the girl's expense, flexing her will and starting to telekinetically move things around on the table.

Pi reached over for a glass of water on the table, but before her hand could grasp it the glass ran away, coming to a rest a few inches from where it began. Muttering a "Huh?" and rubbing her eyes a little, she tried again, but the glass moved further away again.

Viola struggled to retain her composure and not burst out laughing, managing to keep it to a low chuckle unheard by the others.

Pi glared over at her, snapping, "Stop that! I know it's you!"

Viola just opened her eyes, looking back with a face of pure innocence, as she said, "I don't know what you're talking about. I've done nothing wrong." and indicating the glass of water, now resting back where it started from.

Pi looks back, pouting mildly, grumbling, "I'm not an idiot, I know what I saw." To make her point more than complete she used her ki to knock Viola from her meditative position.

Viola stands up and glares over at Pi, clearly annoyed at being disturbed, and yelled, "Hey, it's not _my_ fault you're too clumsy to grab a glass from a stationary table!"

"At least I don't have to be so childish as to start moving objects around using my ki just to be a pain!" Pi yelled back.

"Hey, you have no proof I've done anything. I've just been meditating and trying to ignore the disgusting manner in which your species consumes food." Viola said indignantly.

"Kaen saw it too, didn't you? She was messing with my glass!" Pi looked over at Kaen upon finishing, as did Viola.

The man in question looked up from his food, glancing between the obviously very annoyed females, before saying, "Hey, leave me out of this. I'm not stupid enough to get in the middle of two clearly irate females, and besides, I was too busy eating to notice anything until you two started bickering."

Pi simply huffed, and muttered under her breath, "Kuso, Baka."

Kaen just looks over at Pi and said, "I'm not saying I don't believe it happened, and if it comes down to it, I'll agree with you, but I'm not going to risk personal injury to do it."

Still showing signs of her irritation, Pi storms off, and Kaen sighed and said to himself, "Sometimes I think I was better off on my own..." before returning to the food, making sure as to leave some for her when and if she decided to come back for more.

So as to not aggravate the Saiyans any further, Flute used his telepathy to contact Viola, saying, _"Was that really necessary?"_

The laughter she refused to express verbally was clearly evident in her mental voice as she replied, _"Yes, yes it was."_

He paused for a second before replying, _"Hmm, and why is that?"_

One could almost see her shrug as she replied, _"Because it was fun, do I need more of a reason than that?"_

His response was swift, _"She's only a child."_

The indignation could be heard in her mental voice, _"She shouldn't start things she can't finish. She'll have to learn that eventually, and I might as well start teaching her that now. Besides, she takes things way too seriously."_

In an annoyed 'voice' Flute said, _"Saiyans are known for their pride, it's one of those things that can't be helped; going out of your way to upset her is by no means a smart thing to do. We will be travelling together for quite some time I believe."_

She sighed mentally, _"Ok, I'll go apologise..."_ before cutting the connection and heading in the direction of Pi's ki signature, passing Kaen on the way, who is only just finishing up his snack, before getting up and heading to the cargo bay.

o-o-o

Viola found Pi sitting in her room, her head resting on her knees and her arms wrapped around her legs, looking vacantly out the window. She walked up to her, standing there for a moment searching for the right words, before saying "Pi, I'm... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that."

When she got no immediate reaction, she continued, "I know it was childish, but I was just trying to add a little fun to an otherwise boring trip. That... and to get a little payback for you embarrassing me before. I'm guess I'm not very used to being around other people, let alone Saiyans."

Finally reacting, Pi nodded a little, whispering, "Its okay, I over-reacted a little... it just that... never mind."

Viola walked closer, sitting down next to her as she urged, "Just what? You can tell me."

"Kaen... he still thinks I'm a little kid." Pi murmured softly

"Well," Viola searched her memory, trying to remember what she'd been told, before continuing, "The last time you were really together was when you were... 14 or so in standard years, if I remember you telling me, right?" Pi just nodded slightly, but remained silent, so Viola continued, "I admit I'm not the best at working people out, but I think he just hasn't had a chance to see the new you yet. Give him time."

Pi nodded again, muttering, "Yeah... but what happened before didn't help much..."

Viola fought back a blush before saying, "Does he know how you feel about this?"

She shrugged, saying, "I don't know, his reactions are mixed a lot of the time."

Viola smiled wryly as she said, "Running for your life for 4 years can do that to a person."

Pi shook her head a little, saying, "We are Saiyans, it's a life we chose, and a life we enjoy, despite the hardships."

"Still," Viola continued, "if my memory of his story is right, he believes that he may have been betrayed by his own kind, right? And worse still, he lost his entire unit. Maybe he's just so afraid of losing you he's trying to drive you away to keep you safe."

Pi smirked a little, saying, "He'll have a hard time."

Viola smirked in kind and replied, "I'll bet. From what I've seen you don't let anything go without a fight."

Pi laughed a little and smiled, saying, "Saiyans are stubborn and proud."

Relieved that Pi seemed to have cheered up, and forgiven her, she smiled herself as she said, "So I've seen."

Pi blinked, seeming to realise something, asked, "Hey, what made you want to apologise anyway?"

Viola stood up and looked away, answering in a soft voice, "Flute helped me realise how stupid I was for doing what I did."

Pi's smile turned a bit more evil as she said slyly, "You really like him don't you?"

Viola blushed a little as she stammered out, "W-What makes you say that?"

Pi just got up, stood right in front of her, and said "Experience" before winking and exiting the room

Viola blushed for a little while more before realising that she was now alone and heading back to the cockpit. Without turning from the controls, Flute asked, "So, how'd everything turn out?"

Without so much as looking in his direction she sat down, and started looking out into space, saying just "Good."

Still without eye contact, although with a raised eyebrow that went unnoticed, he asked, "Is anything wrong?"

Her reply was a simple, "Nothing you need know or worry about." The pair still without looking at each other.

He just shrugged and said, "Very well."

o-o-o

Over in the cargo bay, Pi walked in to find Kaen sitting at a bench, a portable computer that appeared to have been taken out of his pod next to him, working at something. Looking over his shoulder, she could see him doing something with one of the scouters he picked up on the last planet. Curious, she asked, "What are you doing?"

Looking up, he replied, "Trying to make these things better. I may not need one anymore, but they are handy to have around."

She nodded slightly before raising an eyebrow, and saying, "What do you mean you don't need one? How else can you tell people's power levels?"

He paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts, before beginning his tale. "Well, when I was on the run, I shed everything bar the ship that might link me to the Cold Empire, but that left me with the problem you mentioned, not being able to find people, so I, through many hours of meditation, was able to find a way of 'sensing' people. I can't think of any other word for it bar another sense, just like sight and smell, only one that needs to be learned."

Pi gazed in slight awe, saying, "Wow, that's great..." before becoming a bit nervous, and finishing with, "um... can you teach me?"

Kaen smiled up at her, saying, "I've never tried teaching it to anyone before, but it never hurts to try." Pi smiled back at him, but their little moment was broken violently, as the scouter circuits, which were left alone for too long, suddenly exploded in a shower of sparks. Kaen growled out, "Kuso, stupid thing, man they made these temperamental..."

Pi nodded, saying, "I remember once, when someone tried using too much energy at once and they just popped... it singed my hair..."

He nodded too, replying, "Yeah, they'll do that. From what I've seen they have a limit to how much power they can safely detect. Different models have different limits, based on what the average 'highest' power level was at the time. I think that's something Frieza had put in to scare people should they ever try to fight him."

Pi nodded again and said, "Well, Frieza is supposed to be the strongest being in the galaxy..."

Kaen just snorted a little at this, "Says him. I know better. Frieza kills off everyone strong because he knows that there's a chance they could best him, and it scares him."

Pi laughed, "In that case he'd have to destroy all of Vegeta-Sei!"

Kaen laughed a little himself, "Yeah, it'll be a Saiyan that does him in alright. There's no doubt in my mind. Why else would he ride us so hard? One day he'll push one of us too hard, and we'll show him the true potential of the Saiyan race."

She nodded and smiled, saying, "I bet one of these days even one of our third class could put him down."

Kaen smirks at that, "Personally, I'd love to see the look on his face when it happens. Knowing Frieza he'll claim superiority with his dying breath."

Pi let out a little giggle, saying, "Imagine King Vegeta's face if that happened."

Kaen paused for a moment, obviously trying to picture it, before bursting out in raucous laughter, in which Pi soon joins him. Flute, overhearing most of this conversation, just shakes his head, a slight smile adorning his face, as he muttered, "Damn arrogant Saiyans."

Managing to reign in his amusement, Kaen gets out, "Now that would be a priceless scene." She nodded, picking up one of the scouters on the bench and fitting it over her eye. As he watched her adjust it a little, he sighed a bit and said, "I 'spose it's a good thing I 'liberated' so many of these."

Pi nodded her head in agreement, saying, "You'll probably break more than a few."

He glared mildly at her with a half amused, half upset, and very un-Saiyan look on his face, as he replied, "Thanks for the confidence boost."

She stuck her tongue out at him childishly, and teased, "Only being honest."

He laughed a little bit at her expression, before saying, "I know. So, when do you want me to teach you to sense ki, or try to at least?"

She just shook her head lightly, saying, "I'll let you finish here; I want to go watch the Nameks, they act funny when they're together."

Kaen laughed a little at that, before his face turned contemplative. "Now there's a relationship waiting to happen. Do you think we were that obvious?" Pi's only response was to blush lightly, and Kaen could feel his own cheeks start to heat up as memories of his time of Vegeta-Sei come back to him. "It would explain a lot..." he trailed off. At this, Pi just giggled a little before kissing him on the cheek and running off. Kaen himself blushed a little more as he watches her retreating form, thinking, 'But I don't regret it for a moment.' Shaking his head slightly, he returned to his work.

o-o-o

Back in the cockpit, Flute turned from the controls to Viola, saying, "Well, we have our second destination."

Viola looked back, sighed and said, "That's good. I don't know about you, but I need to get off this ship soon and stretch my legs."

He nodded, pausing a minute before voicing details. "From the data received, it seems to be a quiet place, no seemingly large populated areas, so we should be able to get in and out without problem"

She looked out the window again, thinking for a moment before replying, "What's the terrain like?"

"Large canyons, and plains. Not hostile, but not overly hospitable." was the answer given.

She paused again, before going on. "Hmm... Any forests, or anything like? I'm _dying_ to spend some time in nature's heart."

He looked over the data a moment before nodding, and saying, "The equator seems to be vegetated."

"Tropical plants... well, better than nothing." she mused.

With a final glance at the controls, he said, "It will be another two or three days before we arrive."

Her eyes widened a fraction, and she exclaimed, "Damn, how slow is this thing? My ship could probably have done that distance is under a day... well, before it... broke down anyway."

With a look bordering on amusement, at least by Namek standards, Flute replied, "If you like you could get out and push, it may help."

Viola huffed at him, "Hey, that's not funny!"

"Actually," he grinned, "it was."

A voice from the cargo bay called out "It seemed funny from here," the tone of voice showing the speaker to be Kaen as much as the voice and words themselves, while Pi, having entered the cockpit mere seconds ago, just laughed quietly.

After the moment of mild comedy has passed, the voice called out again, "Hey, where's that dragon ball thing? I wanna try something."

Flute doesn't pause a second as he said, "On a planet about two solar systems away."

Kaen sighed, "I meant the one we liberated."

With a raised eyebrow, the Namek replied, "In my cloak."

Kaen sighed again, this one sounding rather annoyed. "Well, if it's not too much trouble, could I borrow it for a moment?" he asked in a voice bordering on sarcastic.

Eyebrow still raised, Flute replied again, "Fine, come get it."

A third sigh was heard, this one definitely sounding annoyed, as Kaen stood from his work and walked over to him, collecting the ball and walking back to his workstation and placing the ball on some mechanical device, it's purpose a mystery to all bar the Saiyan himself. For several minutes nothing can be heard from Kaen's workstation bar key clacks and a mild hum, and the Namek couldn't help but feel somewhat anxious about the whole thing. Finally, Kaen looked up from the screen, smiling triumphantly, before standing up again and taking the ball back to Flute, simply saying, "All done," before going back to work.

Immediately checking over the ball to make sure it was fine, Flute murmured, "I wonder what that was about..."

Either overhearing, or merely expecting that reaction, Kaen called out, "I didn't break it, I just scanned it," never once looking up from his work.

"Why?" the Namek called back.

"Simple, I figured that if you can sense these things there must be some sort of energy signal they give out. I thought if I could find it I could program that signal into these things," Kaen paused, gesturing at the many scouters strewn across the bench, before continuing, "and make our search a little easier."

Flute raised an eyebrow for a moment again and nodded, saying, "Good idea. And what pray tell will you call such a device?"

Kaen looked up for a moment, a grin on his face, and answered, "Haven't thought that far ahead yet. I wasn't even sure it'd work until now."

Flute nodded again, the Namek smirk returning to his face as he said, "Very well. Don't start too many fires, like before," to which he received a glare from Kaen, but otherwise no reply. To no one in particular the Namek said, "When a Saiyan glares at you, it's the closest thing you can get to compliance." To this, Pi glared at him in spite of herself, and Kaen's glare intensified to one that could kill a lesser being, and had done in the past.

Viola makes a mental note of this, trying to hide her amusement, and thinking to herself, 'And he tells _me_ off for riling one of them...'

Kaen formed a small ball of flame, and barked out, "If I didn't need you to fly this ship I'd love nothing more than to cook you."

"If I didn't need someone to help take out any Cold Empire lackeys, I doubt you'd be here to do it," Flute shot back.

At this, Kaen just shrugged and said, "Can't argue with that point, but I don't need anyone to help me find Cold Empire lackeys to blast. Plenty of those seem to materialise anywhere I stay too long."

"Yes, but having a reason to do so more frequently would appeal to you I would imagine," Flute replied stoically

Kaen grinned ferally, "Do I need to answer that?"

"Hardly," was all the Namek said before falling silent as he starts meditating, the female joining him shortly after. The Saiyan male just returned to his tinkering, the only difference in ambient sound being the clack of a keyboard every now and then, as Pi laughed quietly and taking a seat to gaze out the window, peace falling over the ship and it's occupants once more.

End Chapter 04

To be continued...


	6. Planet of the Vespers

--- The Phoenix Chronicles ---

Chapter 05 - Planet of the Vespers

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He looked down at the girl below him, frustration evident on her face. He'd been trying to teach her to fly for a while now, and was getting nowhere fast. **"Come on Pi, you can do it. Just push your ki under you like I told you,"** he called, hovering in the air a few metres above her.

**"I'm trying!"** she snapped, angry with him for his impatience, and her for her own, in her mind at least, incompetence. **"It's not working! I can't do it, I give up!"** she cried, flopping down on the ground and starting to sulk.

Kaen sighed softly before smirking, knowing just what would motivate her. **"Well,"** he said absently, **"if you're giving up I guess I'll just have to find someone else to train with. I wonder if Shellie's free..."** he trailed off, starting to float away.

Her eyes instantly snapped up, locking on to him, as her vision faded to red, her anger at this other _girl's_ name clouding her mind. She _knew_ inside he would never train with this other girl. It was something they always did together, just Kaen and herself, but the rage overcame all logic and reason. She stood up, glaring at him all the while, and using the technique he'd been trying to teach her, and failing, she lifted off, shakily at first, before steadying herself, and launching off after him as fast as her rudimentary skills would allow her.

Kaen smirked again, noticing her out of the corner of his eye. I made sure he was flying slowly enough for her to catch up, and yet fast enough to remain just out of reach. He turned back to her, teasing her by saying, **"You'll never catch me. I'll bet Shellie can go faster than that..."** His eyes widened as this new barb made her angrier, in turn making her faster, and he dove out of the way, Pi hot on his heels.

Realising that she wouldn't stop until she caught him, he spun around again, and caught her fists as she launched herself at him. She struggled to get free of his grip, growling, **"Lemme go, I'm gonna kill you!"**

**"Why?"** he asked offhandedly, **"I got you flying didn't I?"**

She pulled her arms away, preparing to attack again when his words hit home, and as her anger faded, she looked down, seeing that she was, indeed, flying. This realisation made her lose her concentration, and she started falling, but Kaen quickly dove down and caught her.

**"I did it... I flew,"** she murmured, then looked at Kaen, still holding her, stuttering, **"What... How... Why..."**

He just smiled down at her, saying, **"I said what I did only to give you the motivation you needed to keep trying. You mustn't have been thinking clearly, because you should know that I'd never have gone to her."**

She pouted a bit, muttering softly, **"That still doesn't make it right, but..."** before looking back at him shyly, and saying simply, **"Thank you."**

He smiled again, saying absently, **"Think nothing of it. Now, unless you're too tired, how about we start working on improving the basic skills you just learnt?"**

She smiled back, getting her concentration back and floating out of his arms, before the training began in earnest.

o-o-o

The Namekian ship drew near to a green planet, it's pilot's estimated time of arrival fairly accurate, with the journey having taken another two and a half days. Said pilot, the Namekian adventurer Flute, began to guide the ship towards the planet's surface, which appeared to be covered mostly in a lush environment, or at least where they were landing did.

The female Saiyan Pi headed towards the controls, looking over Flute's shoulder and out the window, and saying, "Is that where we'll find the next ball?" The female Namek Viola rose from her meditation at much the same time, joining the group at the controls, and leaning over a bit to get a better look out the window.

Flute just gave a short nod at Pi in response to her question, and turned to the female on his other side. Some hither-to-unknown part hidden deep in the recesses of his mind noticed that, with the way she was standing, he had a really good view of her... Not letting that thought go any further he snapped his gaze back to the front, concentrating on the controls, and not even allowing himself to think of her, lest she overhear his thoughts.

The mercenary Kaen, in true stand-off-ish Saiyan male fashion, hung back, leaning against a wall a fair way away from the controls, but still within earshot of them.

Thinking out loud as he landed the ship, Flute said, "We need to land somewhere clear, so we won't be very close to the ball when we get there. And I sense a lot of ki on this planet, so we need to be on our guard."

Hearing this, Kaen just smirked, throwing his black trench coat on, and adjusting his new scouter. Pi, taking notice of this, came over to him and admired his handiwork. If you didn't know what it was, you'd never guess. The case had been re-modelled, now looking more like a quarter sphere with the sides removed, and was now coloured red, instead of the standard, bland white. The eyepiece, a similar colour to the casing, expended out of, and retracted back into, the main unit, as did a small microphone for the radio. Finally, the main unit had a series of buttons on the down curve, towards the back. All in all, she was thoroughly impressed, and the new addition to his attire made him look all the better. With a look of mild wonder, she said, "Wow, so you finally got it to work?"

Kaen smirked again, pride written all over his face, as he said, "Yup. I may have lost five of them in the process, but I got it working." He paused, going over to his workstation and picking up another scouter, before walking back, holding his hand out and saying, "Here. I made one for you too, after I got this one working."

She gasped a bit as she looked at it. Although made in the same design as Kaen's, this one had a different colour scheme. Instead of a fiery red, this one was a lush forest green. A look of excitement filled her face as she took it from him, blushing a deep red, and bowing her head slightly. She managed to smile, getting out a "Thank you" and kissing him on the cheek, before darting back to where the Nameks were, placing the scouter over her ear as carefully as one would a precious piece of jewellery. After putting it on, she managed to mutter, "He remembered my favourite colour..." her voice too low for Kaen to hear, but the Nameks had no such problem.

Kaen scratched his head a little at this odd behaviour, thinking, 'What was that about? It's just a scouter. You'd think I'd given her a blue diamond the way she's acting...' Getting nowhere fast, he just shrugged, muttering, "I'll never understand her..."

Viola looked between the two, one eyebrow raised in confusion, before shrugging, and looking out the window again, thinking, 'I don't think I'll ever understand those two...' while Flute just glanced at Pi and shook his head slightly, bringing the ship to land in a grassy plain.

o-o-o

Upon touch down, Kaen cracked his knuckles and headed towards the hatch, Pi following one step behind him, as Flute and Viola, upon uttering the Namek word to turn security on, and donning her cloak respectively, headed out moments later. The ground below them was soft enough to cause the ship to sink slightly, but sturdy enough to indicate there was firm ground underneath. The grass was wet, the air smelling, to Kaen's enhanced senses, of rain, both fallen and to come, while an alien forest could be seen all around the clearing they landed in.

Without wasting any time, Flute started into the forest, already having a lock on the location of the ball. Viola fell into step behind him, but she seemed to have a little more spring in her step than usual. She thought to herself, 'Wow, the spirit of nature is so strong here... it's making me feel a little giddy...' before breaking into a quiet giggling fit, composing herself moments later. Both Nameks stopped moments later when they realised the Saiyans weren't following.

Unlike Viola, Kaen was not so pleased to be here, muttering to himself about "damn trees" and "overgrown over glorified weeds" as he pressed a button on his scouter, looking around the area in search of something, be it their target, or a threat to their safety.

Pi just smiled, chirping, "I wonder what kind of flowers grow here," to which Kaen just snorted inaudibly. She stuck her tongue out at him, and he swatted half-heartedly at her, which started the two of them 'fighting' playfully.

After watching them for a couple of minutes, Flute grew to be a bit irritated, and called out, "Keep your minds on the task at hand!"

Stopping their horseplay, Kaen glares at the Namek before sighing. "Fine, let's get this over with."

With a nod, Flute turned back to the forest and continued walking, Viola almost skipping behind him, and, judging from the look on her face, getting 'drunk on nature.' Kaen sighed again, floating a few inches off the ground as he followed so as to keep out of the dew-covered grass, and starting a search with his scouter, Pi following in tow, a smile on her face.

'Hmm... the ball seems to be almost due west from here, and by the looks of things someone, or something, has found it.' Kaen thought to himself, looking around for anything that might be a threat, as they walked along the natural path leading back towards the clearing. A few small animals jumped around, and an amused look crosses his face as he watched Pi chase a few of them, managing to catch a small creature with light grey fur, long ears, and a long monkey like tail.

"It's so cute!" she exclaimed, as the creature decided to sit on her shoulder and examine her hair. Kaen raised his eyebrow at this, but wisely chose to say nothing.

Flute shook his head, watching the Saiyan girl continue to giggle at the creature, while Viola looked across at her in a bit of a daze, mumbling "Saiyan female's are weird..." before turning back to the forest, and absorbing more of nature's essence.

Pi walked up closer to Kaen, chirping, "He's cute Kaen, what do you think?" No sooner had she finished this sentence than the creature jumped off of her shoulder and onto his, starting to paw at his coat upon landing.

He glares at the creature, picking it up by the scruff of its neck and holding it in front of him for a moment before drawling out, "Yeah, sure it is..." Before he could react, the creature wrapped it's tail around his arm and escaped his grip, swinging up to catch hold of his nose, and causing Pi to burst into giggles again. Glaring at it again, he backhanded it lightly, even by non-Saiyan standards, and it jumped down, scurrying into the forest.

Pi pouted a little as she watched it leave. "Aww, you scared him."

He glares in the direction it scampered off to, muttering, "It's lucky I didn't kill it..."

She hit him lightly on the arm, huffing, "Meanie."

Flute turned back a bit, taking part in the carry-on for the first time, as he said, "Let's hope it doesn't have bigger friends."

Kaen ignored him, looking at Pi indignantly and saying, "I don't appreciate some creature swinging on me like I'm a tree or something."

"Fine." Her answer was neutral, as if she was deliberately blocking her emotions off, and she walked ahead to keep pace with Viola, who was in turn still off in her own world.

As he watched her walk away, Kaen muttered under his breath, "Great, now I've upset her. Wonderful. My day just got so much better..."

He trailed off as Flute spoke up, almost too quietly, without turning back. "We're being followed."

"Just noticed did ya?" Kaen replied, his voice just as low.

"I was going to mention it earlier, but you seemed busy," Flute quips back.

In response, Kaen just shrugged before pressing a button on the side of his scouter. "Think it's a threat, or just curious?"

"They seem curious," Pi added, the first words she'd spoken in a while, and Viola nodded numbly, still seemingly out of it.

"Well," Kaen continued, "Let's hope they don't change that any time soon then, shall we."

After a few more minutes of walking, they paused. On the road ahead of them was a familiar small creature, sitting quietly on its haunches, it's tail idling in the wind. Upon spotting the creature, Kaen just sighed, "Wonderful. I was wondering when it'd show up again..."

Flute paused in his walk, looking at the creature, and it just stared back at him. After a minute of this standoff, the creature scampered over to him and climbed on his shoulder, looking under his turban. The Namek seemed not to mind this very much, but given his lack of emotional expressions this _was_ just a guess.

Kaen looked around warily, still floating a few inches off the ground, both his scouter and his senses picking up more of them around the group, while Pi just giggled at the creature.

After finishing its 'inspection' the creature climbed off Flute's shoulder, scurrying over to Viola. Seemingly noticing the creature for the first time, she gazed at it intently, studying it, before squatting down to get a closer look. It, in turn, climbed onto her shoulder. After simply looking at it a moment, she whispered, "Hey there, what kind of creature are you now?"

The creature smiled back, before replying, "We call ourselves the vespers."

Hearing the creature, the vesper, speak, Kaen looked at it with about as much shock as a Saiyan warrior ever allowed himself to show, while Viola said, "So, you can speak."

The vesper nodded, saying, "Yes, we all can." This seemed to be some sort of signal, as no sooner had it finished speaking when several more of the vespers emerged from the wood, in varying colours, each with a reasonable amount of ki for something their size.

Kaen looked around at them, his tail twitching a little, but he didn't make any other response besides floating a little higher. Pi smiled wider, couching down to examine another one of them, who took to her with the same amount of interest.

Viola gazed around at the vespers, taking in their differences, before saying to the one on her shoulder, "Don't 'spose you've found a small orange ball?" The vesper gave her a quizzical look, and she chuckled a little, saying, "I guess that's a 'no'."

Flute took the ball they had from his cloak, showing it to the vesper in question, and saying, "It looks like this." It's eyes widened, but as it reached for the ball, he pulled it away, saying in a mock stern voice, "No, you may not play with the shiny object," causing Viola to start chuckling again. Flute just smiled back at her.

Another one of the vespers looked up at Kaen a moment before jumping up and grabbing a hold of his leg. Resisting the urge to kick it off, he looked down and drawled, "Can I help you?"

It looked back up at him for a moment, before saying in a mild awed voice, "You can fly like the Nuros."

He raised an eyebrow. "The what? What's a Nuros?"

The vesper on Viola's shoulder answered, "They are the ones who have the ball you're after, but they are very violent."

Kaen looked over at the vesper that spoke, a feral grin on his face that only a Saiyan could pull off, replying, "Really? Well, we'll see about that..."

As the vesper on his leg hopped down, Pi asked, "So where can we find them?"

"They live deeper in the forest, in the caves," replied another vesper on the ground.

Viola just smiled at them, saying, "We'll take care of them."

The vesper on her shoulder looked at her quizzically again before jumping off, and the vespers started to recede into the forest.

"Well, looks like things are more complicated than we anticipated," said Flute as he watched them leave.

"Seems that way," Viola replied wryly, standing up and dusting herself off.

Pi looked a little upset as the vespers left, so Kaen floated over to her and whispered, "Don't look so sad. We can see them again after we're done."

She smiled and nodded, closing her eyes a minute before saying, "So we're heading... west, right?"

He smiled back, saying, "Seems that way, yeah." She smiled, happy that her ki sense training was paying off, and he let his mind wander, remembering just how he taught her.

-Flashback - yesterday-

Kaen growled as the scouter he was working on blew up, the third one since he'd started. He stood up forcefully, growling out, "Dammit! That's it! I'm going to take a break before I smash something..." He walked into the control room, finding Pi still there, and saying, "Wanna start your training now?"

She looked up, a little puzzled, and said, "But what about your work? Are you done already?"

Shaking his head, he replied, "No, but it's getting me frustrated now, and that's not helping any, so I decided to take a breather, and I figured while I'm free I'd start you training now, so you've got a bit of time to work on it before we land."

Nodding, she said, "Okay then, where do you want to do this?"

Thinking for a moment, he said, "Why don't we head to your room, there's less distractions there."

Nodding a little, and blushing lightly for reasons he couldn't understand, the two headed off, and sat down opposite each other once in the room.

"So... what do I need to do?" she asked, still blushing a little.

He smiled a bit, still not understanding why she was blushing, and replying, "Lemme think a minute... Ok, I got it. I want you to remember back to when we first started training together, and how I taught you to find your centre. I want you to find it, and remember what it looks like, what it feels like."

She closed her eyes, searching inside herself for that place he taught her to find long ago, the source of her power. Unlike when they first started, when it could take her a few hours, she managed to find it in mere minutes, and she said, eyes still closed, "Okay, now what?"

He smiled to himself, pleased that she found it so quickly, and continued, "Now I want you to search out with your ki and your mind, look for other things that look and feel like your centre."

She nodded, trying to do just what he'd told her. It took her a little while, as she tried to work out how to search with her mind, but soon enough she saw a light in her mind, sitting not 3 feet from her, a light that felt soothing, comforting, and above all, safe. Opening her eyes, she saw Kaen sitting there, right where the light in her mind had been. She whispered, "I saw, felt, a light, right where you're sitting..."

He gave her a wide grin that made her heart flutter, though she tried not to show it. "That's great!" he exclaimed, "That light is how your mind interprets ki. Now, look further, you should see the Nameks' as well."

She did just that, searching farther with her mind, and finding just two more lights in a sea of darkness. She noticed, though, that they didn't feel the same way as his did. They still felt like ki, but that was all, there was nothing else to it, and she was left wondering why the difference. "I see them," she whispered, "but... they feel different... different to how you do..."

He thought for a moment before saying, "Well, that could just be because they're a different species..." She could tell that he knew more than he was saying, by the way he avoided eye contact with her, but before she could ask, he stood up and said, "Well, I better get back to work. I'll leave you to practice." before quickly leaving the room. As she watched him leave, she couldn't help but think to herself, 'What could it mean that has him running like that...'

-End Flashback-

Placing the ball back in his robes, Flute called out, "We should continue on foot, no point in startling anything," shooting Kaen a glance as he did so.

Pulled from his thoughts, Kaen glanced back, mumbling, "Yeah, yeah... I hate jungles..." before landing.

As they continued on into the jungle, night fell quickly, and mist started to form around them as they slogged through the wet and unstable ground, Kaen grumbling the whole while. The two Saiyans gazed up at the night sky, finding a half moon hanging there. For Pi, it had been a while since she'd been able to look at the moon without worrying whether it was full or not. For Kaen, however, it had been too long since he'd seen a full moon for his liking, and he voiced as such. "Wonderful, only half full..."

Flute glanced back at them, pulling both from their musing by saying, "Stay close, we're almost there."

As they approached, they could hear loud talking coming from the clearing ahead, the beings within obviously not afraid of being overheard. The group paused, focusing on listening to the conversations ahead. They could hear one of the men, assuming they were men, call out, "I still can't believe we're stuck on this damn rock. This is the third month; where in the name of hell is the backup we requested?"

As they moved closer to the clearing to try and get a look at their potential foes, they could make out about a half dozen men huddled around a fire, looking almost squid-like in appearance, and their armour making it quite evident that they worked for the Cold Empire. Kaen snarled lightly as the men continued.

Nuros 1: "I still can't believe they sent us here, this damned planet has nothing to fight."  
Nuros 2: "It must have been the high energy they were getting, these trees probably caused it."

Viola moved closer to them, staying amongst the trees, while Kaen smirked, whispering softly to even his own ears, "Nothing to fight eh..."

Nuros 3: "Nothing worth stealing, 'cept that damn rock you tripped over Nalar"

The Nuros started laughing at one of the men, and as they looked at the man in question, the only one not laughing, they saw him remaining indignant over the matter.

Using her telepathy, Viola asked Flute, _"What should we do?"_

Standing up, Flute swept them all with his gaze as he replied out loud, "I'll try being direct, and see if this can't end peacefully"

The Saiyans nodded, remaining hidden, Pi next to Kaen, and Viola still in the trees.

Flute walked into the clearing, though quietly, and waited for the Nuros to notice him. After a few moments, one of them did, asking gruffly, "Who are you and what do you want?"

"I came looking for an object similar to this," the Namek replied, pulling the ball from his robes. "If you give it to me, I'll be on my way." He then slipped the ball back whence it came.

One of them stood up, the markings on his armour showing him as the leader of this group, and he snarled, "What if we don't want to give it to you?"

Kaen's smirk widened as he heard this, and the smirk turned into a feral grin as he heard, and saw, Flute's reply. "Then it won't be pretty," Flute suggested, shooting a glance into the woods. Noticing the glance, Kaen stood, entering the clearing with that grin still on his face, and Pi on his heels, a serious look on her face, while Viola remained in the forest, but moved close enough to make herself known.

The rest of the goons stood and looked around, switching on their scouters as they did so. One of the men spoke up, "You're pretty strong, but 6 on 4 aren't odds in your favour."

Kaen smirked smugly, saying, "You'd think so wouldn't you? And you'd be wrong. I've survived 5 on 1 odds many a time, and most against stronger beings than the likes of you, so what makes you think you can change that?"

Flute began removing his cloak and mantle, and dropped them to the ground with a dull 'thud', watching the faces of those still watching their scouters start to show fear. One of the Nuros oblivious to the Namek's actions sneered, "You don't scare us monkey, we'll hang you by the tail when we finish with you!"

Upon hearing the word 'monkey' Flute picked his mantle back up again and took a step back after donning it, nodding Kaen's way to indicate that this fight was his and his alone now. Even Pi seemed to notice the subtle change in Kaen's posture that indicated his rage, as she too took a step back, seemingly content to play cheerleader, despite how angry the comment had made her too.

His eyebrow twitching slightly, his smirk widened as he said, "That a fact? Let's test that shall we..." He removed his coat as he said this, and before anyone could react he hurled it at lightning fast speed at the Nuros who dared insult him. The coat moved faster than anyone expected, knocking the man off his feet, and causing him to hit his head on the log behind him, fracturing his skull. Upon closer inspection, one could see his armour was broken where the coat hit, and his ribcage seemed to have caved in a little.

He cracked his joints a bit, saying, "Ah, that's so much better, without that weighing me down..." and smirked again, smelling their fear as they observed his true power with their scanners, far above what they thought possible from a 'mere monkey.' Deciding to show them what they had really gotten themselves into, Kaen lowered himself slightly, saying, "This night air's a little chilly, you boys mind if I turn up the heat?" As they all watched, they can see red flames starting to build around his form. The strain can be heard in his voice as he cried out, "Here's something I've been tinkering with... Rage Pyre!"

The flames suddenly coalesced into a blood red pyre, turning the water on the ground into steam, and his power level took a massive jump, causing their scouters to explode due to the overload. Taking another step back, Flute said, in an almost bored voice, "Try to keep their bodies in one piece, the dragon ball may end up damaged if you repeat the last incident."

Kaen grinned, saying, "I'll try," before looking over at the men, all of whom were trying desperately to not show their fear, and almost succeeding, adding, "Now, I believe you guys mentioned something about hanging me from my tail..."

Without any other warning, he disappeared from view, phasing in front of one of the men and driving his fist into the Nuros' gut, knocking him back and fracturing his armour, but leaving him standing. Before the men could recover from his movement, he jumped back, raising both hands and shouting "Twin Blaze!"

One of the men copped the blast in, and through, his chest, while another was merely glanced by it, although a very severe glance. Their attempts to fight back were in vain, their now more than obvious fear of the enraged Saiyan male causing their errant blasts to miss by a long shot. He flew towards the one with the fractured armour, right hand raised, as he attempts to grab the man by the head, but the Nuros was lucky enough to dive out of the way in time.

Kaen glared around at the squid-like beings, deeply satisfied with their fear, before locking eyes with their leader, by far the strongest of the remaining four. 'Let's see how afraid you are when I use your own strength against you...' Kaen thinks to himself, using his most unorthodox ki attack by far, one requiring no verbal or physical command at all, 'Wither Strike!' Before the Nuros knew what hit him he collapsed to the ground, his muscles atrophied, and his ki almost non-existent, as Kaen literally stole the strength from him with a glare.

As they watched, the Nuros with horror and the others with wonder, Kaen's power level took another massive jump, his muscles beginning to bulge under his body suit in turn, and causing Pi to blush at the sight, but her fascination in the fight stopped her from looking away in embarrassment. Faster than even the Nameks or Pi could see, Kaen flew forward again, driving his knee into the stomach of one of the remaining three squids, turning his ribcage into a fine powder, and destroying many of his organs, but leaving him alive.

Errant shooting is all the last two could manage as they started to flee, their terror getting the best of them. A growl could be heard coming from the Saiyan warrior, "Where do you think you're going?" Almost before the words could reach their ears he Zanzoken'd in front of them, throwing a spin kick at one of them. An audible 'snap' could be heard as the Nuros' neck broke, and before the body has a chance to hit the ground, Kaen sped forward and grabbed the last one in a headlock.

As the Nuros struggled in futility to get free from the Saiyan on an obvious warpath, said Saiyan growled, "You should've played nice..." before driving his knee into it's spine, an evident 'crunch' heard by the others as the knee more than obviously broke the creature's spine. Kaen simply changed his hold slightly, his hands now resting on either side of the creatures head, and puts it out of it's misery with a twist, its head being forcibly removed, and its body slumping lifelessly to the ground.

After surveying the damage, Kaen dropped the head lazily, turning to Flute and saying, "Get what you need, then I'll mop up."

The Namek just shook his head before beginning to search the bodies of the fallen for the dragon ball. He soon found it, taking the other from his cloak and watching them glow slightly before putting them back.

Kaen just nodded, flying a little ways into the air and saying, "If there's nothing else anyone needs down there I suggest you stand back!" as he raises one hand above his head. Pi was the first one to leave the area, the Nameks soon following, and they turned back to watch Kaen, as ki started building above his hand, the flames around him raging. However, before the attack can fully manifest, it cut short for reasons unknown, the spent ki causing Kaen to immediately feel ill. The reasons for this unusual occurrence were unknown to all of them, but as he fell slowly back to the ground, Kaen noticed several vespers darting back into the undergrowth.

Kaen clutched his stomach, groaning, "That never happened before..." before realising what had happened, and what the significance of the vespers' presence meant, muttering, "Little vermin..." quietly as the fire around him died down suddenly. Flute, noticing the vespers, watched as a lone vesper, one he thought may have been the same one they first found, looked at Kaen, then himself, before scurrying off as Pi rushed in to help.

"Perhaps it is best we leave," Flute stated, watching the female Saiyan supporting her male counterpart.

Viola nodded, saying, "Perhaps, yes." Kaen, muscles still larger than normal, just grabbed his coat and coughed out a reply.

Flute took the lead, flying towards the ship, Viola in tow, as Pi helped support Kaen as the two flew back together, albeit slightly slower than normal due to Kaen's condition. The entire flight back, Kaen could be heard muttering about "filthy little vermin," but it wasn't until they were back on the ship, off the planet, and after Flute had taken the time to heal him, that Pi responded, "Maybe its their way of making sure their planet is safe..."

He half-heartedly shot her a glare, coughing before saying, "I was holding back..."

She smiled a little wryly, saying, "Do you feel hungry?"

He did an immediate turn around, going from mock-anger to mild apprehension in an eye blink, mildly afraid she'd deprive him the food he so desperately wanted based on his earlier actions, but managing to get out, "Uh... yeah?"

She smiled happily, chirping, "I'll make something for you to snack on," before disappearing into the back of the ship.

He sighed, throwing his coat on the ground, realising that until the effects of his attack wore off it wouldn't fit him, and knowing full well that it would take several hours for that to happen, before sitting down on a chair very carefully, so as to avoid breaking anything. Flute just sat down, beginning to meditate, as Viola looked at the Saiyan curiously for a moment before saying, "You can power down now you know?"

He grunted out a response of, "Not my choice when it goes away, 'else I would."

She shrugged a bit before wandering off to find Pi, and thus peace reigned once more upon the Namek ship. Two dragon balls recovered, but five yet to be reclaimed.

End Chapter 05

To be continued...


	7. Dance Lessons

--- The Phoenix Chronicles ---

Chapter 06 - Dance Lessons

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He looked up at the girl zooming through the sky above him, a carefree and very happy look plastered across her face, obviously pleased in her new mastery of the gravity defiance that is ki-based flight. 'I should probably stop her so we can train some more,' he thought to himself, 'but I don't really want to put her in a bad mood... Ah well, I'll let her have her fun for now.'

This decision made, he walked over to a nearby tree and sat down in the shade it provided, back against its trunk, as he watched her aeronautic display. So engrossed in the show was he that he didn't notice the figure approaching until he spoke, **"How's your girlfriend's training going?"**

Almost on instinct alone, he replied, **"She's not my girlfriend,"** before looking over at the speaker. He saw one of his brother's friends, who'd all become almost brothers to him when Korin died, smirking at him.

**"Just keep telling yourself that, and maybe one day you'll believe it,"** he replied both knowingly and teasingly at the same time.

**"Don't see you with anyone,"** Kaen snorted back defensively.

He just shrugged before saying, **"As much fun as this is, you never answered my question."**

Kaen sighed before looking back to the sky again, watching Pi swoop gracefully through the sky, before replying. **"Well, as you can see she's learnt how to fly now, but it took her longer than I thought it would to master flight, considering how quickly she started flinging blasts around. Also, her forms still need a little work, but she's not doing too badly all things considered..."**

**"If she needs work then why aren't you doing anything about it?"** he interrupted.

Glaring mildly at him, he paused before responding, **"Because she's in a good mood now, and I'm trying to enjoy it while it lasts."**

**"While what lasts?"** a pleasant, and all-too familiar, female voice asked.

He jumped a little bit before looking in the direction of the speaker, groaning inwardly that he failed to notice that she'd finished her fun, before saying, **"Nothing Pi, don't worry about it."**

She frowned, saying, **"You were talking about me, weren't you?"** directing her glare at the other guy, who hurried off making some excuse that involved him being needed elsewhere. With one target gone she glared at Kaen instead.

Sighing inwardly, he thought, 'Well, it was nice while it lasted,' to himself, before saying out loud, **"I said don't worry about it. Now, do you want to train, or do you want to argue?"**

She turned thoughtful for a moment, seemingly weighing up the pros and cons of both choices, before saying, **"Alright then, what sort of training did you have in mind?"**

He merely smirked and dropped into a stance before replying, **"I think you can figure it out."**

She mirrored his smirk as she jumped back and took a stance herself, and time seemed to stand still as the two waited for the other to make the first move. They stood there for several minutes before Kaen's impatience finally got the best of him, and he charged forward. The two battled non-stop on the ground for a moment, Kaen obviously having the upper hand but not acting on it, before their fighting lead them to take flight, still locked in combat. Growing tired of her lacklustre performance, Kaen chose to capitalise on her more than obvious, to his eyes at least, flaws in style, and within seconds she was sent flying towards the ground.

She managed to stop herself before she hit the ground, and glared up at him with fire in her eyes, barking out, **"What was that for?"**

He glared back, folding his arms across his chest as he said, **"That was for your pathetic performance. I know I trained you better than that, and I expect better."**

Her glared wavered slightly, unnoticeable to all but the guy it was directed at, as she replied, **"I was just getting warmed up..."**

He shook his head and sighed, saying, **"No you weren't. I know you better than that. Just... just go home. And when you get there, could you send Oran or Lime out? Right now I think they could give me a better workout than you..."**

The fire in her eyes returned with a vengeance, and she growled out, **"WHAT! There is NO WAY that those five-month-old BRATS are better than me!"** As if to get her point across, she threw a blast at his head the second she finished.

He didn't even bother to block, or to move; he just tilted his head aside at the last minute, and the blast sailed past him. Inwardly smirking, but keeping his mask of disapproval on, he said, **"So, now you're aim is off too huh? Maybe I should give up while I've still got at least some faith in your abilities."**

This comment only served to make the girl madder, and without so much more as a cry of defiance she took to the sky, firing blasts all the while, fully intent on inflicting serious harm to the current, and usual, focus of her ire: him.

He just smirked and started flying backwards, weaving in-between the blasts as he did so, watching as her anger, and power level in turn, rose by the minute. Eventually, the blasts started coming too hard and fast to simply dodge, so he began firing back blasts of his own to detonate them before they reached him. Eventually they both tired of this little game of ki dodge ball, both stopping their blasting at the same time, and Kaen smirked again as she charged him, their aerial battle resuming stronger than before, this time with neither having any obvious advantage.

However, due to her large amount of ki usage, Pi began to tire first, but still refused to give up. Eventually, she almost passed out from exhaustion in midair, beginning to plummet back towards terra firma, but like always, Kaen was there to catch her. The last thing she saw before sleep claimed her was his smiling face, and the last thing heard was his voice saying, **"See? I knew you could do better."**

o-o-o

The Namekian ship flew unerringly towards their next destination, one which, luckily, it's pilot, had managed to locate fairly quickly, but unluckily, was still two weeks away. Said pilot, the Namek Flute, was currently meditating in the chair in front of the controls, while his unofficial co-pilot, the female Namek Viola, mimicked his actions in a chair nearby. Said female opened her eyes slightly, taking in the form of the male next to her, before quickly shutting them again, but the male in question was oblivious, and possibly even asleep, although it was hard to tell.

Meanwhile, the Saiyan mercenary Kaen was, as per usual, in the unofficial training room doing his warm-ups, under the watchful eye of his female counterpart Pi. Upon finishing his warm-up, he looked over at her and called out, "Care to do a bit of light training with me, like what we used to back home?"

She smiled, replying, "I'd love to!"

Nodding, and smirking in a way that only a Saiyan could, he fell into a stance, waiting her move. She fell into stance herself, mirroring his smirk, a smirk that any Saiyan would wear when given the chance to fight, and thought to herself, 'I know him well enough to know that his hot-blooded nature will make him attack, so I'll just bide my time...'

Noticing her apparent mindset, he just growled, "So be it," before charging, and swinging in for a right, albeit fairly slowly, at 'start of a Saiyan fight' speed. Her smirk became wider, and she grabbed his arm, using his momentum to throw him over her head. He landed on his hands easily, and swung his legs back in an attempt to knock hers out from under her, but she just jumped back and took a defensive stance.

Swinging back to his feet in the same motion, he charged again, faking another right and bringing his left knee up, to which she used her elbow to block his knee, realising the punch was a decoy, and used the force to punch into his ribs. He jumped back a bit, a smile on his face, one that only she ever saw, as he thought to himself, 'She's gotten better.' Raising his right hand in a beckoning, 'come hither' gesture, he called out, "Are you just gonna let me do all the work?"

In response, she stuck her tongue out at him and jeered, "I know you will anyway," before stancing again and making the same gesture back at him. His grin returned full force as he charged her, Zanzoken'ing so as to appear to be attacking from both sides at once. She adapted quickly, using a roundhouse kick to keep them both at a distance, and after determining the real one, throwing a double kick in his direction. He spun to the side, her feet sailing past him harmlessly, and swung a backhand at her in the same motion, but she curled into a ball and hit the ground to dodge the blow, springing back to her feet moments later.

Standing there loosely, he smiled at her again, that same smile, as he said, "You've improved."

She smiled back in turn, replying, "And you're still as impatient as ever."

Taking his stance again, he said, "It's a shame there's only so much you can do while onboard a ship this size, but let's take it up a notch anyway."

Her face suddenly brightened with remembrance, and she chirped, "I know what we can do instead!"

A mild look of confusion crosses his face, and he raised an eyebrow before replying, "Oh?"

Her excitement showing, she continued, "When I was trying to track you down I found this really neat trick!"

He stood up, raising the other eyebrow, and replying with mild disbelief veiled in his voice, "Really?"

She nodded, saying, "Yeah, it needs two people to do it, and its supposed to make us really powerful!"

His eyes lit up at the mention of the word 'powerful,' and his voice filled with enthusiasm as he replies again, "Really?"

Nodding again, she said, "I've never seen it done before, but a Natamoru traveller told me how it can be done."

He paused, scratching his chin a little as he mused, "Natamoru... I don't think I've ever heard of them before..."

She paused for a moment too, thinking a bit before saying, "I think their home world is further north in the galaxy."

He nodded, saying, "Ok then... so... what do we need to do?"

She paused again to remember, before explaining. "Ok, first we need to stand about five metres apart like this, arms facing away from each other..." She stood with her legs bent outwards a little, her arms both pointing right with her outstretched fingers together, "Then, we need to take three steps towards each other saying 'Fu-' as we do this..." She took three steps, knees out and heel facing each other, whirl winding her arms up and across her chest. "Next, we say '-Sion' as we do this..." She raised her right knee across her body, throwing her arms over her chest again. "Finally, we say 'Ha' and do this..." She lowered her knee a distance away from herself, bending towards the left with just her index fingers outstretched as she whirl winded her arms again until they rested above each other in the air a little ways further left than her left foot. "And we've gotta make sure our fingertips meet in the middle."

His face darkened slightly having seen what was expected of him, several choice remarks running through his head, but he ignored them all, simply replying, "O... k..."

She pouted a little, saying, "I know that look, you think it's a joke don't you?"

Several more choice remarks ran through his head before he sighed, knowing full well that there was no way for him to win this argument, and just muttered, "Don't say I never do anything for you woman..." before looking back at her again and saying, "Alright then, let's give it a try."

Pi smiled at this, moving Kaen's arms around like a doll until he was standing in the right position. Wisely saying nothing, he noticed the Nameks standing in the doorway, and glared at them. While Flute had a neutral expression on his face, the laughter in his eyes was more than evident, and Viola, unable to remain as stoic as her male counterpart, was laughing quietly.

Pi moved roughly five metres away from him, taking her position to mirror his, and asked, "Ready?"

Focusing his mind on what needed to be done, and shutting out the Nameks from his sight, he nodded, thinking, 'As ready as I'll ever be to make an arse of myself...'

Their first half dozen attempts at the dance did not go over well, with missed steps and tripping on both their parts, their fingers never managing to make contact, perhaps for the best. By this point, Pi sat on the floor heavily, slightly disheartened at their constant failure, and Kaen crouched down next to her, placing his arm around her in a comforting gesture.

She seemed upset, and a little angry, her eyes seemingly filled with tears, as she muttered, "He said if we shared a bond it would work... maybe we don't have one..."

Holding her close before any doubts could take root in her mind, he whispered for her ears alone, "Hey, let's have none of that. You know as well as I do that these things take a while to learn. Remember how long it took us to get you flying? Look, let's just take a rest, and try again when we're more refreshed."

She smiled a little as the memories came back to her and nodded, saying, "Yeah... you're right..." before putting her arms around him, if for no other reason than to assure herself he was really there.

o-o-o

Feeling a little weird at this display of affection, Viola wandered off back to the controls, Flute in tow, and they both sat down in their respective places. Flute spoke up first. "Too bad they didn't connect their fingers any of those times, it would have been amusing..." It was obvious for all but the densest of people that he knew more than he was letting on.

Viola raised an eyebrow as she looked over at him, saying curiously, "Why'd you trail off there?"

"The Fusion Dance technique has a lot of potential, but causing an error in the steps and connecting fingers makes the fusion process much trickier," he added.

Her face filled with confusion as she replied, "How so?"

"I am more than certain our companions will at least be able to complete the dance sooner rather than later, but doing so correctly will be another matter, so you will see soon enough," he ended.

Her face fell, as did her voice, as she said, "Is that all you're gonna tell me?"

"The effects of a misplaced fusion dance are random at best, what it will achieve is impossible to say," he supplied.

She blanked for a moment, her eyes distant, obviously thinking about something, before bursting into laughter. He raised an eyebrow in question before asking, "What do you find so amusing?"

Managing to contain herself for a moment, she said, "Just... trying to picture what they'd look like..." before laughter consumed her again.

He nodded slightly, a smirk on his face, before saying, "However... these are only tales I have heard of the Fusion Dance, until now I have never known how it was done, nor if it truly works..."

Her laughter subsiding, she noticed something about the way he said that, but with nothing to base her judgement as to what it was off she said nothing, instead saying, "I wonder if they're rested enough yet?" before the two head back to the rear of the ship.

o-o-o

Finishing her drink, Pi stood up and rested slightly against the wall as Kaen looked over his head at her from his position lying face up on the floor. She smiled a little, saying, "Ready to try again?"

He swung his legs up, and used the momentum of that alone to back flip into a standing position, before looking over at her again and saying, "Whenever you are."

She smiled, and the two moved into position at their ends of the room, both of them either not noticing the pair of Nameks standing once again in the doorway, or ignoring them. Viola whispered softly, her voice loud enough for only Flute to hear, "Here we go again, time for round two."

Glancing over at each other, the Saiyan pair nodded together before looking forward and raising their arms outward. They moved through the steps of the fusion dance together, first stepping towards each other, swinging their arms and chanting 'Fu-', then raising their knees and throwing their arms out chanting '-Sion' and finally leaning towards each other to touch fingers with the syllable 'HA!'

Flute visibly cringed, for while the two had finally managed to finish, he'd noticed a misstep, and after the white light that filled the room had faded, a rather old and misshapen figure wearing an odd yellow and black vest with white pants stood where the Saiyans once had. Almost the second the light died, a dual voice started cursing in Saiya-Go. Flute just shook his head, muttering more to himself than anyone else, "Fortunately the fusion dance effect wears off in half an hour..." before the two Nameks clapped their hands over their ears to block out the noise.

o-o-o

For half an hour, a constant string of curses easily long enough to reach all the way to Vegeta-Sei and back several times fills the ship, no single curse ever having been uttered more then once. The Nameks sigh in relief when the pair split apart again, glad that the cursing is finally over, and Pi started giggling uncontrollably, saying, "It actually worked! We messed it up, but it works!"

Kaen sighed to himself, glad to have his own body back instead of the misshapen one they shared up until moments ago, before smiling back at her and saying, "Yeah, it worked. Now that leaves me wondering what it'll be like when we get it right..."

"Well, we didn't get the body to work properly, but we shared our minds..." Pi said quietly before blushing and bowing her head.

Kaen simultaneously paled and blushes as he heard this, the thoughts that filled his head at her mentioning of the word 'bond' before returning, as he thought, 'Oooh no, please don't let her have seen that...'

His hopes turned out for naught as Pi blushed some more, thinking, 'I can't believe he thinks I look like that when I'm naked' and quickly leaving the room. Before she got too far, however, she came back in and stood in front of him, pausing as if she was going to say something, before blushing again, slapping him, and hurrying away, Viola following after her.

After standing there, mouth agape, for a moment, he sighed and dropped his head, sitting down heavily on the floor, and muttering, "All things considered, I guess I got off lightly..."

Flute, who had watched most of the spectacle, approached Kaen before saying in as close to an understanding voice as any Namek has ever used, "I suppose sharing a mind can make such things unavoidable..."

Kaen sighed again before looking over at the Namek and replying, "It could have been worse. At least we both know we're thinking the same about... certain issues..." before trailing off, obviously feeling a little weird talking to a being that he thought, up until a few weeks ago, was completely asexual.

Viola walked over to Pi, a slight smile on her face, as she said, "Care to tell me what that was about?"

Pi looked up at her for a moment before saying, "It's nothing..."

"I have had... similar... experiences in sharing thoughts, chances are whatever you are worried about most right now, is what she saw most of..." Flute said, still with that understanding voice.

Kaen dropped his head again, muttering, "That's what I'm afraid of..."

Viola looked back at Pi, saying, "No-one, not even you, slaps someone for nothing."

Pi, in turn, blushed a little again, and muttered something, but her voice was so low that the words were inaudible even to Viola's superior hearing.

Flute raised an eyebrow, saying, "That bad?"

Kaen said nothing, just sinking down a little lower.

Thinking aloud, Flute said, "It was either to do with another woman, or something just as lewd I assume..."

Kaen just muttered in a barely audible voice, "She's changed a lot these past twelve months..."

Viola leaned in closer, saying softly, "What was that?"

"He was thinking of how I would look naked..." Pi muttered again. "... I'm not angry...just..." She blushed again.

A look of confusion filled her face for a moment before it was replaced with a knowing look, and she replied, "I think I understand."

Flute nodded, saying thoughtfully, "Hmm, I get the picture. I don't think she's mad at you, probably embarrassed."

Kaen nodded in turn, saying, "Doesn't make things any easier though..."

Pi tried to stop blushing a little to talk to Viola, but was failing miserably. Reading more into it, Viola smirked and said, "Is that all you're embarrassed about?"

Her embarrassment suddenly replaced by anger, Pi barked out, "Wouldn't you be if Flute started to imagine what you looked like without your clothes on?"

Viola backed away a bit, hands raised defensively, and refrained from saying 'Too late...', instead answering, "Well... that would... feel... weird... Personally, I'd rather not know."

She sighed, saying, "That's my point..."

"Well..." said Viola, "what are you going to do about it?"

She sighed again before replying, "Try to not become terribly embarrassed when I see him next..." and causing Viola to laugh a little.

"So, what are you going to do about it?" Flute asked.

He sighed, saying, "Try not to think about anything for the next... forever..."

"Well you seem to act without thought in most part. But back to the dance, despite your error, your combined powers rose considerably. If you were to complete it properly, you would be hard to stop." Flute responded knowingly, with a hint of humour in his voice.

Glad to be on a new topic, and slightly offended at the Namek's offhand remark about his thought capabilities, he looked up, noticing the mirth in his eyes, before replying, "I noticed too."

"From here on out when you perform the dance I will stop you if I note an error, to prevent further mishaps," Flute offered helpfully.

Kaen raised an eyebrow in response, saying, "That's assuming she even _wants_ to anymore."

He shrugged, saying, "She's a Saiyan, I am assuming the prospect of greater power is just as appealing to her as it is you."

The Saiyan male grinned a bit, saying, "Let's hope so."

o-o-o

Kaen looked up, noticing Pi standing in the doorway, looking at the floor, her cheeks still slightly red, and searched for the right words for a while, before saying, "Are you... we... ok?"

She gave a slight nod, saying, "Do... Do you want to try again?"

He nodded, before saying, "Only if you're sure."

She nodded again, smiling at him, and he smiled back for a moment before standing, and the two took their positions again, this time under the watchful eye of the Namek male. However, his offer was never needed, as this time they moved in perfect synch, even their breathing paced to match each other, and as the bright white light that bathed the room for a second time faded, a perfectly fused being stood in it's centre, his outfit the trademark fusion warrior outfit, his face clearly Kaen's, but his eyes were Pi's, and his hair was a cross between them both, still with Kaen's trademark flame look, but with the added feature of Pi's shortish hair hanging down.

Taking the sight of the new being in for a second, Flute asked, "So, what shall we call you know?"

After throwing a few punches into the air at super fast speed to test his new strength, he paused in thought for a moment, before replying offhandedly, "I guess I'd be Kai," in a dual voice, this time a perfect synch of both Saiyans.

Flute nodded, saying, "Impressive," before turning to Viola and adding, "Perhaps it would be in our best interest to learn this technique also." Viola, in turn, looked at this new being, Kai, for a moment, in slight awe at his strength, before turning to Flute and nodding firmly.

Kai looked between the two, amusement evident on his features, as he said, "Oh, now that you've seen it work _you_ wanna give it a try huh?"

Removing his turban, cloak and mantle, Flute simply responded, "That would be correct." After removing her cloak, Viola moved into position.

Kai smirked slightly, saying, "This should be interesting..." before continuing to test his limits.

Flute looked over at Viola, saying, "Ready?"

Looking back, she replied, "As I'll ever be..."

The two extended their arms, and, despite feeling rather silly for doing so, copied the movements they'd seen carried out by the Saiyan pair. The same white light filled the room once more, and this time there stood a male-looking Namek in the centre, with short red hair, wearing the same outfit as Kai wore.

Kai stopped in his tests to glare at this new being, before muttering, "Figures they'd get it right first time... they've been watching it for hours now..."

The combined voiced of Flute and Viola replied from behind a smirk, "After watching you both fail at it so many times, we had an advantage."

Glare still on his face, Kai barked out, "Got a name pretty boy?"

The answer was short, swift, and to the point. "Fatiel." This was followed by a quick punch or two to test his new speed, and it was a testament to his newly enhanced senses that Kai could even see them as more than unrecognizable blurs. After testing his speed, Fatiel just muttered, "An interesting development indeed."

Kai smirked again, saying, "Feels kinda weird doesn't it?"

With a shrug, Fatiel replied, "Perhaps, but it provokes thought also."

Kai's smirk turns feral as he said, "Up for a _real_ test?"

Fatiel smirked in kind, saying just, "Indeed," before returning to the console to meditate, both to test their new awareness, and to piss Kai off. Fatiel was successful on both counts, and he smirked as Kai's face dropped, both in disappointment and disbelief, before he started cursing to himself softly in Saiya-Go.

Shrugging, Kai went back to his tests, before noticing something off about his ki. Forming a ball of energy between his hands much like both halves of him had done in their younger days, he was surprised when, instead of the fire red of Kaen, or the earth-colour of Pi, an deep orange ball formed there, one that gave off much more heat than Kai would have expected. Reabsorbing the ball, he muttered to himself, "Well, that's an interesting development..." before returning to his tests again.

o-o-o

Half an hour soon passed, and Kai returned to being Kaen and Pi, followed shortly by Fatiel's return to Flute and Viola. Kaen smiled over at Pi, saying excitedly, "Now _that_ was cool."

Pi nodded, smiling back, and saying, "See, I told you it was!"

Turning thoughtful, he said, "I never thought our elements would fuse as well..."

She stuck her tongue out at him, replying, "Fire and earth makes lava."

"I know that!" He snapped, albeit without nearly as much force as anyone else would have received, "but I still didn't think _that_ would happen."

Still smiling, Pi let her thoughts drift to what Kaen was thinking while they were fused, and, upon noticing her semi-vacant look, Kaen immediately began worrying to himself, thinking, 'I hope I didn't think anything bad this time... How unfair is that, getting in trouble for your thoughts...' but making sure to keep this worry from showing. Suddenly, he noticed her blush and bow her head, and he groaned to himself, saying out loud, although still soft enough for only her to hear, "What was it this time..."

She stood up and faced him, and without warning threw her arms around his shoulders and kissed him. Not a kiss on the cheek like she normally did, but a proper kiss, right on the lips. Despite the shock he felt at this, he wasted no time before kissing her back. After a few minutes she broke the kiss, before smiling, giggling, and trotting off, leaving him lingering.

One eyebrow raised, he watched her leave, thinking to himself 'What brought that on? I don't remember thinking anything that would result in that...' Once she was a safe distance away, he murmured, "What's up with her..." before shaking his head and saying, "I've shared a body with her, and I'm still no closer to understanding her..."

o-o-o

Flute sat staring out over the emptiness of space, his expression still stony, if not seemingly worried. His mind was still trying to process the information of the Namekin he received during his time fused with her, but he was partially perturbed by a small, lingering thought. 'Was she trying to picture me naked?'

o-o-o

Viola, trying to put as much distance between herself and Flute as possible, was currently sitting in one of the rooms at the back, staring out the window much like her male counterpart, a slightly lighter shade on her face than normal. 'I can't believe I was... I blame Pi for this...'

Suddenly, Pi sat down next to her, still beaming.

Dropping her thoughts after one final one, 'To speak the name is to invoke the power...' she turned to look at Pi, taking in the girl's obvious good mood, and saying, "I take it there were better thoughts this time?"

The girl just smirked and winked at her before replying, "He was thinking only of fighting techniques, but it gave me an opportunity to do something I wanted to do for a long time, and still blame him."

Viola looked at her funny for a moment before bursting into laughter, and Pi joined her shortly after. Containing herself for a moment, Viola managed to get out, "You're evil."

She just poked her tongue out, saying, "I'm Saiyan."

Viola just shrugged, saying disinterestedly, "I fail to see the difference..."

Pi started laughing again, and Viola managed to keep her serious look for a few moments before resuming her laughter herself. And thus, with the sound of laughter of two females, and the confusion of two males, the ship sailed on towards its next destination, the third dragon ball awaiting them.

End Chapter 06

To be continued...


	8. Saiyan Might

--- The Phoenix Chronicles ---

Chapter 07 - Saiyan Might

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One week. Just one week until his third birthday. His parents had been hinting about something very big that was going to happen that day. Something important. Something life-changing. Something he had to be prepared for. And so he trained.

It was a fairly normal day, all things considered. He and Pi sparred, as was the norm, while Oran and Lime, too young to train themselves, watched from the sidelines, cheering him on. Well, Oran was cheering him on anyway, while Lime was cheering on Pi, another normal occurrence.

**"Come on big brother, beat her up!"** The voice of Oran could be heard yelling.

**"Go big sister, get him!"** Lime's voice shouted moments later.

Oran, pausing in his cheerleading, turned to Lime, saying, **"Kaen's gonna win!"**

Lime, pausing and facing him in turn, said back, **"Nuh uh, Pi is!"** and the two fell into their own argument, seemingly oblivious to the world around them as they did so.

Kaen allowed a smile to grace his face, albeit a small one. The two had been like this almost from birth, constantly fighting for something or another, whether it be his, and their, mother's attention, or his approval, or anything else, they were always competing, and he had no doubt in his mind that they'd each be each others first sparring partner when they turned one, reaching the age whereby training was not only allowed, but expected.

Another thing they seemed to have done at birth was to 'adopt' Pi as their big sister, and ever since they could talk they'd call her as such. On some small level this irked him. It wasn't as if he didn't already have enough people on his case about the relationship he had with the girl currently trying to beat his head in, but they had to add to it by acting as though they were already mated.

'I suppose I can't really blame them, I mean she's been almost as big a part of their lives as I've have,' Kaen thought to himself. 'And it's not like they're wrong, exactly, just early...' His train of thought was derailed suddenly by the impact of something with his stomach. Upon further investigation it was revealed to be Pi's knee. Holding his gut, he glared at her, barking out, **"What was that for?"**

She simply smiled and stuck her tongue out at him, saying, **"You always told me not to drop my guard. You should take your own advice."**

The sound of children's laughter reached his ears, and he turned to the source. Oran and Lime, seemingly having finished their little verbal spar, had seen what happened, and seemed to find it highly amusing. Deciding that blasting them would be a bad idea, as his mother would be upset at him for it, he turned his ire on the next closest target. He smirked, saying, **"So that's how you wanna play huh?"** That infuriating smile never wavered, so he raised his right arm, gripping it's wrist with his left, as he cried out, **"Well play-time is over! Blaze Cannon!"**

She dived out of the way, avoiding the blast. The tree behind her wasn't as lucky, the blast tearing a hole straight through the decades-old trunk and out the other side. She barely had enough time to gain her bearing again when another blast shot towards her, and she hit the dirt again, the blast ripping through another tree. This time, however, the tree was young, the blast causing enough damage to fell the tree, and it fell to the ground in front of her, barely missing her.

Distracted by the falling tree, Pi failed to realise that Kaen had released his wrist, and now had both hands facing her. She also failed to realise he was charging a blast, and it wasn't until she heard him cry out **"Twin Blaze!"** that she realised it was too late to dodge, or even to block. The first blast slammed into her chest in a rather painful fashion, but before she could react to it the second hit her from behind, a classic pincer move, and she fell to her knees.

When the pain dulled she glared up at him, smirking down at her, and shouted, **"That's not fair! You haven't taught me how to do that!"**

He sighed and shook his head, saying, **"How many times have I told you? Techniques like that aren't taught, they're discovered. Relying on someone else's techniques is weak, because their technique will never be as strongly suited to you as one of your own design."**

She fumed silently, thinking, 'If that's how he wants to be, then fine, I'll do it myself,' before using his lapse in concentration to look inside herself, searching for a technique to call her own. It wasn't long before she found what she wanted, her inspiration hitting her, and she stood up, eyes still closed, moving her hands into a hither-to unused, and yet strangely familiar, position.

Kaen watched her, snapping out of his introspection when she started moving, with an amused smirk on his face. 'What is she trying to do now?' he thought to himself.

His question was answered soon enough, as her hands stopped their movement, seemingly having found the right position, and her eyes snapped out as she cried out, **"Titan Burst!"** His eyes widened in surprise at the seeming announcement of her new technique, then in shock at the size of the blast now fired from her hands, and before he could react the blast slammed into his chest, and it was his turn to fall to his knees. Pi stood in place, panting slightly from the effort of creating her new attack, as she said, **"How... was that?"**

A cry of **"That was awesome!"** arose from the two kids as Kaen stood, hiding the pain that blast had caused, and looked at her face, seeing an expression he'd seen many a time on his siblings, but rarely on her. She was hoping for his approval. He looked thoughtful for a moment, letting her sweat it out, as he mulled over her choice of attack. 'Titan Burst... Sounds ground-based... Great, even our elements seem destined to be together... Ah well, why fight fate?' With his trademark smirk, he replied, **"Not bad, but I've seen better."**

He might as well have said 'I'm really proud of you,' for Pi, already used to reading him like an open book, received this message loud and clear, knowing that he thought it, but his pride would never let him say it. She beamed back at him, blushing slightly, as she whispered, **"Thanks..."**

As the moment passed, and the cheers from the children resumed their assault on their ears, the same thought hit them both at once. 'We're both still standing... This match isn't over!' With matching smirks they lowered themselves into their respective stances, and waited, silently watching each other's form, searching for the weaknesses they'd both long outgrown, until, with some unseen, and unheard, trigger, they leapt as one, speeding towards the other to resume the fight.

o-o-o

The weeks have passed in peace, well as much peace as possible for four people trapped in a small space, as they employed their time mastering their new technique, the Fusion Dance. As their destination, the third of seven dragon balls, drew near, the ship came to a landing on a neighbouring planet. The reason for this abrupt landing was simple: the need to feed. Having spent almost two weeks without a full meal, the two Saiyans are almost to the point of eating the ship to gain sustenance.

Their pilot Flute was the first to disembark, noticing they'd landed in a busy port, and began asking the nearest local where a restaurant could be found. Viola was next off the ship, while Kaen, after collecting his coat, chose to wait for Pi, who was busy pinning her hair back, before the two left the ship and followed after their green skinned companions.

After a short walk they came to an inn, on a relatively quiet street, and, after passing the inspection of the ever-protective male Saiyan, Kaen, with Pi no more than two steps behind and smiling all the while, walked in. The Nameks followed shortly after, Flute chuckling a little as he held the door open for her and said, "If you think what you've already seen of their eating habits was bad, try not to be surprised as to what will happen, since they haven't eaten in a few days'"

Viola raised a single eyebrow in question, but said nothing as she entered the inn, blushing slightly for reasons she couldn't understand at his actions.

After taking a look around, Kaen sat at a table that could easily sit eight people and grabbed a menu, Pi taking her place next to him shortly after, still smiling. Flute, remembering Kaen's performance the last time they'd done this, chose to sit across from them, muttering, "I'd rather not loose an arm by sitting too close..." while Viola, again raising a single eyebrow in question, took his cue and sat next to him.

A waitress approached them and looked at the four of them quizzically, saying in a confused voice, "Are you expecting guests?"

Kaen just dropped the menu, obviously having not had to think too hard on his order, before barking out, "No. Just bring me one of everything."

A mild look of shock filled Viola's face, and the waitress looked a little taken aback as she smiled as best she could and asked, "Is that for all of you?"

Flute just shook his head slightly and said plainly, "Water."

Pi chirped, "I'll have one of everything too!"

A full blown look of shock on her face, Viola just pointed at Flute and numbly said, "Same as him..."

The waitress looked a little dumb-founded as she made her way to the kitchen to place the bizarre order.

As they awaited their long-overdue meal, Kaen turned to Pi and said, "Hope the food's good here, though I doubt it'll be as good as yours."

Pi smiled at him, saying, "If you like I can go make the food for us."

He just smiled back, shaking his head a bit and replying, "Nah, you deserve a break."

Pi blushed a little, and as the first wave of food was brought out a few of the younger waitresses smiled at Kaen, fluttering their eyes, as they served up the food. Pi, luckily, was too distracted by said food to notice, and Kaen allowed himself to breathe a sigh of relief as he began eating.

Viola drank her water silently, her look of shock still on her face, as she watched the Saiyans eat, no, inhale, enough food to kill most creatures, at a rate that should choke them. Flute, however, managed to do something more constructive, and stopped a waitress to ask some questions, namely, "The second planet towards the sun, what are the people like there?"

The waitress looked more than shocked, replying, "You can't possibly want to go there!"

Pausing for a moment in his feast, Kaen swallowed and asked, "Why not?" He resumed eating the second the question left his mouth.

She managed to stutter out, "A long time ago the creatures there turned the entire planet into a giant city, and had robots to cater to their whims, but a virus of some sort wiped them all out. The virus died too after their weren't any hosts, but the robots were left with codes to attack anything that came to the planet without proper clearance. With the inhabitants gone, no-one can stop them, and they will kill whom or whatever that tries to get onto the planet."

Flute nodded, saying, "That would explain why there aren't any Cold Empire markings on the planet..."

Kaen looked a little disappointed at not being able to kill any Cold empire minions, but still was clearly excited about the fight he knew lurked in his future. Pi just nodded her head at the information, saying, "Well, robots aren't really a problem, they blow up easy enough."

The waitresses returned with more of the Saiyan's meal, which they ate like it was their last. And as this cycle repeated, Flute and Viola did nothing but watch on as they consumed more than 10 times their own weight in food, each, the latter wearing a look of both shock and mild disgust.

Pi obviously found a particular dish to her liking, and as she'd already eaten all of hers, quickly stole Kaen's portion of it to eat herself. Kaen, in response, shot her a glare, mild by his standards, and stole some of hers that he liked, to which she just poked her tongue at him and kept eating. He fought to keep his glare from turning into more of a smile, and mostly succeeded.

Flute looked nonchalantly at the Saiyans, but soon began to smirk softly. Viola, the only one to notice his look, asked telepathically, _"What's that look for?"_

_"You should be able to hear the waitresses, correct?"_ Flute responded in kind.

She paused for a moment, listening in to the background conversations she had previously been tuning out, an automatic action her enhanced hearing had forced her to adopt, before smirking slightly herself, and replying sagely, _"Ah."_

The waitresses were huddled in the corner, quietly making remarks about Kaen's looks, which, for some unexplainable reason, caused them to forget about both the attractive young girl at his side, and his eating habits.

Waitress 1: "He's so cute, he must be a movie star!"  
Waitress 2: "That meal will cost a fortune, he must be sooo rich."  
Waitress 3: "They look similar, its probably his sister, so who cares bout her."  
Waitress 2: "Yeah, she's only scrawny anyway, our job is tough you know."  
Waitress 1: "Lets slip him our phone numbers when we give him the bill."  
Waitress 3: "That's a great idea."

Viola, loosing her fight to keep from laughing, chose to do so telepathically so as to not draw attention. She received a response of _"Wise choice."_ from her male counterpart, as he continued to sip his water calmly.

Kaen, noticing Flute's expression for the first time, glared at him with a look that clearly said 'say anything and die,' but Flute makes no reaction.

o-o-o

Time passed as it should, and the Saiyans finally finished their meal. Flute remarked dryly, "Let us pay for what we have each eaten. Seeing as water here is complimentary, Viola and I have paid our share of the bill."

Kaen glared at the Namek again, not an uncommon occurrence by any stretch of the imagination, but this time showing more amusement than anything else. One of the waitresses brought the bill over, 'accidentally' dropping it so she had to bend down, giving Kaen a clear view of her cleavage, which, unbeknownst to her was completely ignored, before dropping it into his hand, along with a second piece of paper.

Noticing this second piece, he quickly used a small flame to torch it before Pi could notice. Flute began to smirk as he saw this, realising that Pi had actually seen what went on, but neither said anything yet. The waitress, also noticing his actions but not showing any outside response, waited patiently for payment. Kaen reached into his jacket, producing a small pouch, and withdrawing enough from it to pay for both Pi and his meal, deciding that her attempt at flirting filled her tip.

Flute lead the way out, holding the door open for Viola again, and again she blushed for reasons unknown before hurrying out. Kaen wasted no time in following, eager to be away from 'prying eyes.' Pi began to follow Kaen out, but her attitude proved to be less than amiable, as she sent a small ki blast towards the huddle of waitresses as she left, leaving them singed but otherwise unharmed; clearly a warning shot.

Noticing this, Kaen began worrying internally, not allowing himself to show it externally, and when Pi caught up to him, looking him directly in the eyes, he feigned innocence, raising an eyebrow and saying, "Yes?" Pi just smiled and hugged his arm, continuing on with him in tow. Unsure of how to react, Kaen just accepted the gesture and allowed himself to be dragged.

Flute boarded the ship, Viola entering shortly after, and before long Pi entered with Kaen in tow, the man in question still internally confused and allowing himself to be towed, before detaching herself to find a seat. Within moments Flute had the ship in the air and under way, Kaen leaning against the back wall in true Saiyan male fashion.

o-o-o

Within an hour, the ship began it's descent towards the planet's surface, and within seconds of entering it's airspace the ships comm. system was awash with a robotic voice requesting - demanding - an authorisation code. Kaen quickly grabbed the remote control for his ship out of his coat, turning on it's force field, before putting it back and discarding his coat completely, knowing he'd need to fight from the word go.

As soon as the ship landed Flute called out, "Get out of the ship, and as far away as you can; if they destroy the ship, we'll have no chance to escape." Before the words had even left his mouth, Kaen was already diving out of the ship, Pi following shortly after, and after making sure the ship's shields were active, Viola and Flute took to the skies. Within seconds, eight robots, about half the size of a man, and bearing lasers, were upon them.

Viola raised an arm, creating a thunder ball, and hurling it with a cry of "Static Field!" However, the spirits were obviously not with her, as only a single ball was created, although it did completely annihilate her target.

Wasting no time, Kaen crouched slightly, clenching his fists, crying out "Rage Pyre, Fury Five!" before taking to the sky, now shrouded in flame, and throwing his hands back and forward for his trademark attack. "Inferno Blast!" His attack proved much more effective, as the raging flames consumed five of the robots.

Pi, in turn, cupped her hands and aimed the at the two remaining robots, firing her attack with a cry of "Titan Burst!" and turning them into scrap metal.

Flute nodded in approval, saying, "Good work, but this may get worse before it gets better. Let's find the dragon ball and get out of here as soon as we can."

Kaen nodded, reaching up to turn his modified scanner on, and setting into its electrical detection mode. As the readings hit him, only one thought came to mind. 'He has no idea how right he was...' The scouter had picked up several high electrical energy readings, the activation of several large robots. Quickly looking the group over, looking noticeably worried, or as much so as he would allow himself to, Kaen remarked grimly, "It just got worse."

No sooner had he said then when the robots, eleven in total, each the size of a building, rose from their underground storage areas, and a robotic voice called out, "All illegal aliens will be brought to justice, destruction of property will yield suitable punishment. Termination." After taking a moment to scan the group over, that same robotic voice continued, "High energy signature detected, activate defence shields," and the robots started visibly glowing.

Viola quickly took to the sky again, shouting, "Cover me," to the others as she raised both hands above her head and began collecting ki for her strongest attack.

Pi nodded, extending her arms outwards, levelling her aim directly at the mech nearest her, and with a cry of "Titan Fury!" four powerful shots blasted from her hands directly at it, but all were dissipated by the shields. Flute simply charged the robot directly, but despite its size it still managed to move fast enough to evade his attack.

Kaen, still shrouded in flame, raised his right hand, collecting his ki to form a large ball of intense flame, before yelling, "Let's see those fancy shields block this! Supernova!" and hurling it towards the robots, catching three of them entirely within the resulting blast. He smirked to himself, crying out, "Not so tough now are ya?" but as the smoke and light from the attack clears, the three robots were still standing; a little burned around the edges, and slightly melted, but very much able to fight. His smirk faltered, and he cursed quietly to himself.

The robots, seemingly ignoring the threat of the flame-throwing Saiyan male above them, chose instead to turn their beam weapons on Pi, sending a deadly salvo her way, but for all their strength it seemed they had bad aim, and Pi was more than able to defend herself against the onslaught. One robot, however, seemed to decide to be different, turning it's weapon onto someone who couldn't dodge, or block. Viola.

Realising that in her current situation she couldn't afford to be hurt, Kaen dove in front of her with a burst of speed, throwing his hands forward and creating a shield of his own with a cry of "Heat Shield!" However, instead of merely dissipating, the blast reflected back where it came, striking the firing robot, and further damaging it's already melted shell.

Exhaling a breath she didn't realise she was holding, Viola muttered, "That was close... Well, one down..."

Kaen, still in front of her, just growled, "It's not dead yet... These things are tough..."

Flute took his position beside her, aiming at the already heavily damaged robot, letting off his own trademark attack with a cry of "Demon Twister!" The blast tore through the robots head, destroying it completely, and with an irritated sigh Flute remarked, "Now it's dead. This is taking too long, we need to get rid of them faster."

Kaen nodded his head in agreement, thinking for a moment. 'Get rid of them faster? How? I mean there's only so much energy we can produce...' Suddenly the answer hit him. 'Of course! We've been doing it for about two weeks now. Now's as good a time as any to see if it works.' With a Saiyan smirk firmly on his face, he looked over at Pi and called out, "Care to dance?"

She looked confused for a moment, seemingly not understanding what he meant, before a matching smirk took it's rightful place, and she nodded her head, the two landing next to each other on the ground, the flames around Kaen dying down. He looked over for a moment, asking, "Ready?" Receiving a nod in reply, the pair went through the motions they had long since mastered with cries of "Fu-Sion-HA!" giving birth to the mighty warrior Kai in a flash of white light. The freshly fused being regarded Flute for a moment, saying only "Keep her safe," before taking to the sky, once again shrouded in blood-red flame.

Kai regarded his mechanical opponents for a moment, cracking his neck, before cupping his hands and reaching back on his right side, crouched in mid-air, and forming a ball of orange ki. Throwing his hands forward and crying out "Volcano Blast!" the smallish ball of ki erupted into a huge orange beam, at least half his height in diameter, but the robots seemed to assess the potential damage the attack would cause in time to get out of the way.

Kai, the Pi in him showing for a moment, looked remarkably miffed at missing his target. With a shake of his head, he returned to his battle-hardened self, and threw both of his arms out to his sides, hands flat and fingers together. With a cry of "Lava Blade!" a blade of molten energy formed over each hand. With no more warning then that he charged the robots, slicing one of them cleanly in two before they could react, and yelling out in a voice that dripped with satisfaction, triumph and pride, "TWO!"

The robots, seemingly in preparation of a counter attack, split themselves into two groups. Of the remaining nine, three of them decided to attack the Nameks, but found Flute's Solaris Guard too difficult to break through, and the other six chose to attack Kai, who merely danced between them with a combination of his speed and his Zanzoken, dodging every blow and crying out, "Too slow!" with a Saiyan smirk firmly entrenched on his face.

The robots, in an ironic display, decided to try and prove Kai wrong, attacking again in the exact same fashion, but once again the results were the same for both groups. Flute's Solaris Guard once again blocked every attack, and Kai's speed one again proved too fast for the robots to keep up with.

Kai's smirk only grew with each attack he dodged. Deciding he'd played enough, he charged them again, blades still formed, and lashed out twice. This time they were more lucky, one only loosing a limb, and another managing to dodge completely, but as he jumped back and formed a massive ki ball, hurling it with a cry of "Magma Death Ball!" two more robots joined the list of casualties, with "The bigger they are, the harder they fall," coming from the dominating fused Saiyan.

Flute, deciding he'd blocked long enough, levelled both of his hands at the nearest robot, the gathering ki more than obvious, and with a cry of "Tempest Wrath!" launched a ki wave large enough to destroy the robot where it stood, and knock the two near it to the ground.

With a flash not unlike lightning, a huge ball of pure electrical energy coalesced above Viola's hands, and with a cry of "Gigavolt Strike!" she hurled it at the robots that had been trying to stop her up to this point, figuring that Kai could take care of himself just fine. The resulting explosion not only managed to destroy the two remaining robots near her, but also reached far enough to destroy one of the other group.

Without warning, another seven giant mecha were upon them, and an audible groan could be heard from Kai. Flute started to become worried, and he looked over at the Saiyan powerhouse, saying, "This isn't good. Kai, can you keep them distracted while Viola and I search for the dragon ball?"

Kai's smirk returned full force as an idea hit him, and without looking back he replied, "Sure, just make it quick, or else there may not be much of a planet left to search."

Flute immediately signalled for Viola to follow him, beginning to fly down to the surface as he did so, and Viola wasted no more that a single glance at Kai, who seemed to be forming a white ki ball in his hand, before following. Glancing back, Flute remarked, "If he's going to do what I think he is, he'd better be able to get back to normal, or we won't be able to leave."

A look of slight panic filled Viola's face as she said, "What is he going to do?"

Flute's reply was simply, "You'll find out soon enough..."

o-o-o

Kai's smirk turned feral, and with a cry of "Let's see you bastards beat THIS!" he hurled the white ball in his hands skyward, where it exploded in a brilliant white light, forming the ultimate technique of the Saiyan warrior Bardock, the artificial moon.

The robots paused in their advancement to scan the light, their metallic voices proclaiming, "No threat, remain on target," but the change before them that this non-threatening light caused in their opponent caused even these soulless robots to feel fear.

Kai's eyes focused on the light, and within seconds they started glowing a blood red. His last conscious thought before the change overtook him was, 'It's been so long. I hope my training still kicks in...' With an unearthly roar, he began the change into the true face of Saiyan might, the Oozaru.

o-o-o

The Nameks, hearing the blood-curdling wail, paused in their search to witness the event taking place.

o-o-o

As all involved watched, Kai's body began to change, his face turning ape-like, his muscles expanding, and his power skyrocketing. As was the norm, his power levelled off at exactly ten times his maximum. The difference this time was that his maximum was exponentially higher than normal, the body of the fusion containing more power than the sum of his parts, and with his transformation, he found himself in a larger body than normal, his Oozaru needing to expand to contain it's new found peak.

As his Oozaru training kicked in - all true warriors taught to harness their war form - he levelled his gaze on the robots, now cowering before his eyes, and unleashed a ki-powered roar, causing structural damage to the surrounding buildings, and causing six of the robots to be thrown backwards.

Roaring in anger, Kai's giant fists rained down upon the fallen robots, delivering ki-packed punches, and completely obliterating all three of his targets, and causing huge craters in the ground where the shockwave of his blows continued on.

o-o-o

The Nameks, in the mean time, find their target, the seven star dragon ball, embedded into the wall as a sort of trophy, and Flute quickly retrieves it. Viola, looking back in the direction they can hear Kai's roars coming from, said, "Think he's ok?"

Flute's reply was grim, "I'm sure he is, it's us we need to worry about now..."

Nodding more to herself than anything, Viola replied, "So what's the plan?"

His reply was swift and to the point, "We get back to the ship, and be ready to leave."

She nodded again, and with no more words said the two flew back and made the necessary preparations for a hasty escape.

o-o-o

As Kai continued to battle on, the robots began to amass in greater numbers. For every robot that fell, two more would take its place. What's more, those not completely destroyed were being repaired on the spot. Kai lashed out a few more times with ki-packed fists before his conscious mind realised the futility in continuing, over-riding his animalistic rage. With one more ki-powered roar, again sending his would-be attackers to the ground, he cut the flow of energy to the artificial moon, changing back to his normal form, and taking flight from the battle.

o-o-o

Back at the ship, Flute indicated to Viola to take the controls as he headed to the door to await Kai's return, and to prepare a going away present for their hosts. Wasting no time, she took his place, awaiting the signal to start the take-off. Using all the speed he could muster, Kai raced back to the ship, flying backwards so he could fire blasts at his pursuers for distraction.

As soon as his eyes spotted Kai on the horizon, Flute raised his hands and began collecting ki. Noticing this, Kai used his, or rather Kaen's, Helios Flare technique to buy Flute some time before quickly climbing aboard. His attack complete, Flute launched it skyward with a cry of "Deathzone Storm Grenade!" The attack sailed over the horizon, and upon reaching it's zenith it exploded into a brilliant light, and then was gone. No sooner had it disappeared, dark clouds began to muster, winds began to pick up, and powerful bolts of lightning began to arc across the sky, shooting at the tall buildings at intervals. Hurrying inside and closing the hatch behind him, Flute yelled out, "Get going now!"

No sooner had he said this than the ship was blasting out of the planet's atmosphere with all the speed it could muster. And as the ship left the planet, it could be seen that a violent storm had now covered the entire planet. As he watched the destruction, Kai couldn't help but adopt a look of respect for his green-skinned ally. Well, about as much respect as any Saiyan would ever show to a non-Saiyan anyway. And he couldn't help but be reminded of his - Kaen's - Flames of Chaos attack.

Flute sat down to rest, and began to calm his breathing. After a few minutes, he said in a tired voice, "The storms should cause enough electrical damage to make sure those robots will stay down."

A smirk firmly on his face, Kai said out loud, obviously directed at Flute, "Well, I must say I'm impressed. And here I thought Nameks were pacifistic by nature."

Flute, in turn, looked back to the planet, his face stony, as he replied, "It wasn't something I learned on purpose."

If anything, the smirk only widened, as Kai said, "Ooh, you've caught my interest."

"I think you have more important things to worry about right now," came the answer from the Namek

The Pi in Kai showed through for a second as he seemed to visibly pout, muttering, "...Tease..." before returning to normal so fast one could almost think they imagined it.

Flute remarked at Kai quickly, "Tell me, you've been fused for, oh, 20 minutes or so now, correct? Perhaps a little longer?"

The man in question just shrugged, replying, "Thereabouts, but it's hard to keep track sometimes."

Flute nodded sagely, continuing, "Indeed, so you will return to Kaen and Pi soon enough, correct?"

Kai raised an eyebrow, saying, "That's the general idea. What's your point?"

Flute nodded again, finishing his thought. "And the fact that you will both be completely naked will have no bearing on the matter."

Kai looked confused for a moment until realisation hit him, and panic began warring with... something else on his face. While the trademark fusion vest had grown with his transformation, the pants had not. Suddenly realising the full implication of the statement, and why Viola was making sure to look out the front of the ship, the panic fully set in, and Kai disappeared from the room in a flash.

Suddenly, the two were split apart again, and Kaen makes sure to turn away, just in case. Luckily for all involved, the clothing state of the fusion had no bearing on their own, and they were both still fully clothed. Pi, now standing over Kaen menacingly, said, "Oh Kaen..."

Something in her voice making him cautious, he looked over his shoulder warily at her. His fear was founded, as within moments her hammer slammed into him, knocking him to the ground, and she stormed off. Picking himself up, he said, maybe too loudly, "What was that for?"

She came back, her face red, from equal parts anger and embarrassment, as she said, "You wanted to see me naked, and, I would have been that way in front of Flute and Viola."

Getting defensive, he retorted, "Your thoughts weren't exactly innocent either, and it's not like they'd care; Up until a few weeks ago they thought they were asexual. Besides, I made the right choice before it was too late."

Still a little embarrassed, she leant down to whisper in his ear, "But I've already seen you naked, so I don't need to again." Saying this, she kissed him on the cheek and trotted off.

Both confusion and mild embarrassment filled his face as he whispered, "When..."

Flute, having used his moment to escape back to the controls, set into his normal meditation. Viola eyed Pi as she re-entered the cockpit, mildly surprised to see her still in her normal clothes after what Flute had said, but said nothing as she sat down to look out the window. Kaen, meanwhile, decided they both needed a little space, choosing to stay right where he was.

End Chapter 07

To be continued...


	9. Unexpected Company

--- The Phoenix Chronicles ---

Chapter 08 - Unexpected Company

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It was here at last. His third birthday. As he awoke that morning, he knew, deep inside, that when the day was over, he'd never be the same again. He just had no idea how right he was.

The day started normally enough. He awoke as he often had since her second birthday, with his arms around her as she slept, in his bed, with her head resting on his chest. Ever since Pi had turned two their parents, all four of them, almost insisted they spend more time together. And while he may have been horrified at the time at the suggestion they share the same bed, as he idly stroked her hair this morning, as he often did, he found himself silently thanking them.

A loud crash from downstairs, followed by a cry of, **"Damn it, be quiet! They're still asleep!"** caused the raven-haired beauty in his arms to stir, finally awake, and she looked up at him, a slight blush on her face as she noticed where his hands were, before she chirped with a smile, **"Good morning! Happy birthday Kaen!"**

He smiled himself, replying, **"I can think of no better way to start it than waking up with you in my arms."**

Her blush intensified, but as the commotion downstairs carried on, she adorned a mild scowl as she said, **"Come on. We better get down there before either someone gets killed, or they come and get us."**

He smirked a little bit as she got up, saying, **"Well, killing one, or both, of my siblings _would_ make my morning complete."**

She frowned as she hit him on the arm, saying, **"Kaen, don't be so horrible! They're not that bad!"**

His smirk remained as he got up himself, adding, **"You didn't think so after their little prank the other day."**

Her blush returned as she stood there embarrassed for a moment, before she shook her head and walked behind him, pushing him towards the door as she said, **"Less talk, more walk."  
**

The party was in full swing, and had been for some time now. Food had been eaten, and the giving of gifts had well begun. Everyone was there. His family, extended family, would-be family, and friends, both his own, and those he'd inherited from his late brother. Out of all the gifts he'd been given thus far, only one truly stuck in his mind. It was a necklace Pi had given him, one she said she bought from a visiting trader.

It was only simple in design, a circle broken into two parts, two separate medallions, one half white, that she would keep with her, and one half black, for him to carry. She said it would keep them together, no matter how far apart they were. They shared a laugh as he said, **"You know we'll always be together!"** but somewhere inside, he knew that before the day was over, this may no longer be the case, and once again, he had no idea how right he was.

His parents had opted to go last, and it was now their turn. As his father left to answer the knock on the door, his mother presented him with her gift, a new suit of armour. While his face showed little response, his mother, like his would-be mate, could already read him, seeing how he inwardly beamed, and she said with a smile, **"Go on, try it on."**

He did so instantly, getting a feel for it. He knew it would fit - all Saiyan armour did - and he took a minute to test its resistance before he noticed something, and asked aloud, **"Hey, what's this insignia?"**

Before anyone could respond, a new voice interjected, **"That, young warrior, is the insignia of a First Class Squad Commander."**

He recognized the voice instantly - every Saiyan should - and he spun around to face the speaker, falling to his knee upon completing the motion and bowing his head as he said respectfully, **"Greetings Your Highness."**

King Vegeta merely laughed, a hearty laugh, as he said, **"There's no need to be so formal boy. While I may be here on business, this is your home, and your birthday no less."**

Regardless, Kaen felt uncomfortable being anything but formal towards his king, and responded with, **"Thank you Your Highness."**

This time he ignored the formality, getting straight down to business. **"Now then, young Kapskaen, I'm sure you're wondering why you have armour bearing that insignia. That is, in fact, the purpose of my visit."** Kaen has assumed as much, but kept silent, as the king continued, **"I have heard much about you, and about the potential you have. This is why I felt I had to come in person to deliver this. I have decided that now you are of age, it is time you receive your first mission, to purge the planet Hunaiya-Sei. Due to your great potential, however, I felt it would be an insult to your pride to start you off at the bottom, and thus, I have put _you_ in charge of this mission. And while the mission may not be dangerous enough for a true test of your strength, it shall test your strength as a leader. Be proud young one."** The king finished with a smile.

Kaen just knelt there, a look of awe on his face, before he managed to stammer, **"It is an honour Your Highness."**

The king nodded, and made a motion to leave, but before he could, Korin's friends, Kaen's surrogate brothers, rushed forward to kneel beside him, saying, **"Your Highness, we respectfully request to be assigned to that team."**

King Vegeta paused mid-stride, before turning back and facing Kaen, saying with much authority, **"The final decision falls upon you Squad Leader Kapskaen. What say you?"**

He raised his head, taking a moment to regard them, before turning to the king and saying, **"Nothing would honour me more than to have them fight by my side, Your Highness."**

The king nodded, saying, **"So be it. Your request is granted,"** before smiling again and continuing, **"Now then, you will leave in one weeks time. I look forward to the results."**

Kaen took a moment to look at the boys again before bowing again and saying, in time with the five of them, **"We won't let you down Your Highness."**

The king nodded once more before turning on his heel and leaving, with an air of grace the whole while. It took the closing of the door to finally shake Kaen and his new team members from their stupor, but when they did he rose a new man, turning to face his family. The first to congratulate him was Pi, running forward and hugging him as she said, **"Wow, congratulations. Squad Leader, on your first mission too."** He could tell she wasn't looking forward to him going, a feeling he shared, but they both put on a brave face for each other.

After the rounds of congratulations had died down, his father spoke up, **"Well, I guess it's time for my gift now. It's a little large to bring inside though, so it's sitting on the lawn outside."** With wonder on his face, as thoughts of what it could be, and Pi's arms still around him, he followed his father outside, as did the others, and what he saw surprised all of them.

There, sat a single Saiyan-style space pod, a freshly built air around it. His father looked it over with pride in his eyes before turning to Kaen and saying, **"So, what do you think? I built it myself especially for this after we received word of your impending mission."**

With the thought 'So that's what they were going on about...' running through his head, he stepped out of Pi's grasp and walked forward to examine the ship, his ship. Running his hand along the outside, and looking through the window, he turned to his father and said, **"You built this?"**

A pride-filled smirk filled his father's face as he said, "**Yup. It wasn't easy hiding it from you, I'll tell you that, but it was worth it. I've even built it big enough for two, although it'd be a little cramped."** A teasing smirk replaced his prideful one as he continued, **"Although, I doubt either you or the only person you'd ever share it with would be complaining much!"**

Poorly hid laughter erupted from the others as Kaen and Pi, the innuendo-filled statement's other obvious target, failed to hide their embarrassment. Recovering slightly, Kaen slugged his father on the arm, hissing, **"Dad!"** but the man's smirk only grew as he saw how right he was.

He laughed, grabbing Kaen's shoulders and spinning him around as he said, **"Now, now, there'll be plenty of time for that later, but we've got a party to continue, and I think your girl there would like a dance before the day's over."**

Kaen growled, **"Dad..."** but his father just shook his head and pulled him closer.

**"Look,"** he whispered, **"You've got one week until deployment. I advise you make the most of it, understand?"**

Kaen's voice was just as soft as he answered, **"Yeah, I understand."** As his father released him, he did something he'd only ever do for her. He swallowed his pride, ignoring all bar her as he walked towards her, taking her hand and kissing it at the end of a flourished bow. Tuning out the reactions from everyone else, he gazed up at her, torso still bowed, and said in a fake posh voice, **"Would you care to dance m'lady?"**

She simply blushed, giggled, and nodded, and as the two headed inside, the party began anew, this time with more to celebrate than before. Along with Kaen's coming of age, they had his deployment, promotion, and show of affection. And so they partied well into the night, stopping only when all involved were too tired and full to do much more. As they all retired for the night, Pi once again spending the night, Kaen's final act was to gaze at the girl in his arms, already asleep, and his final thought was 'I _will_ come back for you. I promise.'

o-o-o

The ship sailed through the vast nothingness of space, the recovery of the third dragon ball still fresh, and an air of silence reigned over it's occupants, though each for different reasons. The Nameks were, as usual, meditating in their respective places, Flute at the control, and Viola in her seat next to him. The Saiyans, however, were silent for an entirely different reason.

Unlike the comfortable silence their green-skinned companions shared, theirs was uncomfortable. Pi remained in her own little space, sitting and looking out into space, avoiding Kaen after their last little revelation. Whether that was to avoid the subject or his ire remained to be seen. Kaen, for his part, just trained as he usually did, figuring that when she was ready to talk, she'd come to him. Despite this mindset, he found himself occasionally glancing at her, obviously paying him no mind, before shaking his head and continuing his warm-up.

The peace was rudely interrupted when the ship suddenly, and violently, jolted, as though it hit something. Kaen and Flute were the most prepared, the former taking to the air and using his ki to maintain balance, and the latter breaking his meditation to grab a hold of the command console. The females were less prepared, both falling from their seats, but while Pi was quick to react, managing to steady herself, Viola was caught unawares, thrown about violently with the ship.

As soon as it had started it was over, and Kaen, still hovering in the confines of the ship, looks around warily before barking out, "What the hell happened?"

From his place at the controls, Flute called back, "I don't know. Either we hit something, or something hit us, but I can't see a thing out here."

Wasting no time, the men used all means available to them to search for the cause. All their senses, normal, paranormal, or technological, searched everywhere as the ship hung in space, but all turned up nothing. In a voice almost low enough to be a whisper, Kaen remarked, "I don't like this..."

Pi looked out the window warily, before gasping out, "What's that?"

The men instantly looked in her direction, Flute turning the ship to face where she was looking, before asking, "What did you see?"

"I don't know. It looked like a glimmer or something, but then it was gone..." she replied.

Kaen growled softly under his breath, "Dammit... I don't like this..."

Viola finally managed to stand up, looking a little sore from the experience, and groaning mildly. Hearing her, Flute quickly went over and helped her up, asking, "Are you alright?"

She smiled weakly at him, a little more than embarrassed at her show of imbalance, before responding, "No, but I will be..."

Suddenly, Pi pointed at the window, exclaiming, "Look, over there!" and all heads snapped in her direction. Out the window, they could see a small shine, as if reflecting off something; off what, they couldn't tell.

Kaen's growl became more prominent as he said to no one in particular, "What is that?"

Flute just shook his head as he returned to the console, replying, "Whatever it is, I think it's better if we left it alone."

Kaen just stalked off, growling again, "I don't like this..."

As Flute sat down at the control and turned the ship around, attempting to continue on, he noticed that the ship seemed to be going in reverse, and gasped, "What in the name of Kami..." Kaen paused mid-stride as he heard this, turning to face their green-skinned pilot, as he cried out, "Something has a hold of us!"

o-o-o

Within moments they were inside what appeared to be a huge hanger, obviously belonging to a very large ship. Flute stood up, a grim look on his face, as he said, "Let's get out. I don't want anyone trying to force their way in here." After a quick stretch, just in case he needed to fight, Kaen nodded solemnly before leading the way out, watching Pi out of the corner of his eye. The others followed shortly, the females trailing behind, Pi being the last to exit.

At a glance, the hanger was obviously a receive and launch bay for Cold Empire space pods similar to Kaen's, and the moment he looked around and recognized the design, he started growling, his tail lashing around under his coat. Pi started stretching, preparing herself for a fight, while the Nameks looked wary, and slightly worried, but remained still.

A door opened nearby, and a small robot came out, scanning over the four of them, and announcing in a metallic voice, "Identification: Two Saiyans. Kapskaen, warrior first class. Pi, warrior first class. Warning, unknown sentients. Namek biology suggested." With a growl, Kaen raised his right hand, forming a ki blast aimed at the robot, which suddenly began to panic, stammering, "Warning, warning, high ki concentration detected."

An evil, Saiyan smirk filled his face as the thought 'So, they can detect ki...' ran through his head, and he increased the flow to the blast, causing it to double in size.

Without warning, the door opened again, allowing the entrance of another robot, similar in design to the first. However, the message this one had filled them with dread, as it announced, "All bow before the son of King Cold!"

Flute cringed, Viola gasped, and Pi was left mouth agape as she stammered, "Frieza! Here! This is his ship?"

Kaen, however, was more direct, firing the blast at the new robot, and it blew up with a cry, almost as if it could feel the pain the blast would have caused. Wasting no time, Kaen shed his coat, throwing it to the ground hard enough to send a resounding 'clang' through the docking bay and dent the solid steel ground, before dropping into a fighting stance, growling, "I have no intention of going without a fight!"

From the same door, he came. He walked in calmly, his demeanour relaxed, and his tail swaying behind him. At a glance, this man, obviously an Aisu, looked just like Frieza, but upon further examination, there were enough differences between the two to prove that this was someone else, like his different colouration. His voice dripped self-importance as he said, directed in Kaen's direction, "I hope you intend to clean up that mess."

Kaen just growled loudly before letting out a battle cry and lunging at him, fist drawn back and prepared to strike. The Aisu was fast to react, almost as fast as Kaen himself was to attack, and he managed to block the punch. "Hey, wait a second," the Aisu cried out, whether from fear or frustration it was unclear.

Jumping back, Kaen snarled again, growling, "What for lizard? I don't work for your kind anymore!"

With unbelievable patience, the Aisu remarked calmly, "That's all well and good, working for yourself is a hard task, kudos to you my friend, but why in the hell were you attacking me?"

Kaen growled again, replying, "I thought it would have been fairly obvious _lizard_. I don't like your kind! And you trapping us here isn't helping that view any!"

The air of calm remained as he spoke again, "Fine, you don't like my kind, that's my kind; I myself have done nothing to you. Also, I'm not trapping you here; you're here by accident. I was trying to figure out how this damned thing works when I ran into you, then the capture protocol was activated, whatever that is, and you're here."

Before Kaen could react, Flute cut in, saying, "Who are you anyway?" Kaen turned to glare at the Namek, noticing as he did how unusually silent the two females were, before returning his glare to the Aisu.

The Aisu in question just looked back, saying, "My name is Frost." He said it simply enough, but with enough pride from it to choke a small creature.

Kaen simply raised his right hand, again forming a ki blast, before saying, "Well _Frost_, give me _one_ good reason not to blow your snake head off!"

With a smug look, Frost answered, "Because, I will be able to evade your pitiful attempt at an attack, and while this hangar has structural integrity, I am sure your blast will cause enough damage to suck you and your friends out into space. Last time I checked, Saiyans couldn't survive in space like my race can."

Flute looked over at Kaen, saying, "He's right, put it away."

Kaen just turned back to Flute, barking out, "Stay out of this!" After watching Pi for a few seconds though, he did follow his advice and reabsorbed the ki, more for her sake than his own.

Obviously feeling quite smug at this point, but wisely not allowing his face to show it, Frost turned to address Flute, "Thank you for making your friend here see reason. I have enough people trying to blast me because I look like my brother as it is."

Kaen started growling again around the word 'brother,' but did nothing. His hand, however, started clenching and unclenching as he resisted the urge to tear the Aisu's spine from his body and beat him with it, in an effort to keep the others, Pi most importantly, safe.

Pi looked thoughtful for a moment, before asking, "You're Frieza's brother?"

A sour look crossed Frost's face as he spat, "Try not to remind me, I really don't see the similarity. Besides, my brother is an ass."

Flute paused for a moment of thought before speaking, "You don't like your brother?"

The Aisu gave a short laugh, saying, "Half-brother I might add, and no I don't like him. In fact, I think 'loathe' would be an understatement. Although, I imagine he won't be too pleased with me now either..."

Having visibly calmed himself, Kaen spoke again in a more controlled tone, simply asking, "Why?"

This time, a smug grin made it's way onto Frost's face as he explained, "As you can see, this is a highly advanced ship, one of the most powerful in the galaxy, and the first of it's kind. The Prototype Destroyer Class, designated 'The Icebreaker.' Designed to be the flagship of the Cold Empire, replacing 'The Ice Queen' as Frieza's personal ship. That is, of course, until I stole it, and mere hours before the launching ceremony no less."

Pi couldn't help but giggle at this, while Viola, who would never let herself be quite that... girly, merely started smiling to herself. Flute, trying to remain impassive, was clearly trying to restrain a similar smile from gracing his face, and even the until-now angry Kaen was torn between remaining angry, and breaking out into a smirk, clearly leaning towards the latter. The humour he refused to show on his face was evident in his voice, however, as Kaen said, "You stole Frieza's flagship?"

Frost, finally noticing the two feminine figures towards the back of the group, approached them and answered in, what he assumed was, a confidant, alluring tone, "Yes, I did. Myself, and a group of others dedicated to making sure Frieza dies a slow and horrible death." He paused in his walk, donning an attempt at a sexy grin, as he continued, "Well hello ladies. And as you two ladies can see, I like to ride in style." He finished this performance by winking at them.

The amused looks faded from the Saiyan pair's faces faster than lightning, and as Kaen's growl returned, more prominent than before, Pi quickly glanced at Viola, silently asking her for her opinion. Viola merely shrugged, turning her back on the Aisu, silently answering Pi with 'Not my problem. Knock yourself out.' With a look saying she was less than impressed, Pi soon had the Aisu planted to the floor, a large hammer directed over his head, and before he could stop twitching a small blast, clearly a warning shot, landed mere inches from his head, barely strong enough to char the ground, but it's message loud and clear.

Frost recovered easily enough, getting back to his feet quickly; however his pride remained where it fell on the floor. Coughing slightly to compose himself, he continued, "Ahem, so since you seem to find my brother and his father's existence intolerable, how would you like to stay around for a while? We could use more power to back us." Frost obviously knew Saiyans had an ego to match their appetites, and just how to feed it.

The 'his father' did not go unnoticed by the group, but before anyone could comment, Kaen, still unimpressed from Frost's previous actions, barked out, "And why the hell should we?"

Frost paused for a moment, before the smug grin returned, and he said, "I have a fully operational training room designed for gravity training, that can absorb almost anything thrown around in it; it's impenetrable. Plus, this ship is undetectable by any scanner, faster than all ships in the galaxy, and has more features than everyone bar the designer himself knows about."

Kaen stern look started wavering around the words 'training room,' but he said nothing, either unsure of what to say, or not trusting his voice. Noticing his weakened resolve, Frost continued, "Did I mention my fully stocked cafeteria, with enough food to stuff an entire army of Saiyans with authentic food from anywhere in the galaxy of their choice?"

At this point Flute interjected, "Your offer is kind, and it is a worthy cause, but we are already on an important mission as it is."

Frost raised a hairless eyebrow, seemingly in equal parts curiosity and suspicion, before asking, "What kind of mission?"

Flute took a moment to regard the group. Kaen seemed lost in thought, and Pi just looked at her life-long crush, seemingly willing to accept Kaen's decision, whatever it may be. Viola, however, just looked at Flute, silently telling him to continue, and he nodded before turning back to Frost and saying, "I am trying to return some lost artefacts for my people. They are of great significance, and I am afraid we must decline your offer. I have already offered payment to the Saiyans for the task, but when they are done, perhaps then they can help you."

Suddenly, her eyes lighting up as an idea hit her, Pi smirked in true Saiyan fashion before approaching Frost in an alluring manner. Kaen, while inwardly shocked, kept his face stony, refusing to show any more of emotion.

Frost held his nose a little, giving her his best calm look, before saying, "Yes?"

Pi took her moment and put Frost in a headlock, saying, "Since you stole this ship, what's to keep us from kicking you out and taking it for ourselves?" Kaen fought to keep a smirk from his face. While he may not have approved of her methods, or the lizard touching _any_ part of her, he had to admit to himself this _was_ kind of amusing to watch.

Frost struggled to get free, well he tried to anyway, but being as close to her body as he was, the will only seemed to drain away, and he stammered out, "Uh, well, look, see, you can't, hey let go!"

She did so, letting him drop to the floor, before planting her foot in his back and saying, "Flute has been very nice to us, so how about you use this ship of yours to help him, and when he's done we can help you defeat Frieza. Deal?" This said, the smirk managed to make it's way onto Kaen's face now.

Frost squirmed a little more, before sighing and giving in, answering, "Okay, okay, but you have to do one thing for me, just let me up first." She let him stand, and he took a moment to regain what little of his composure he had left before looking at Pi with his best charming look, saying, "You'll have to spend the night with me." Before anyone could so much as blink, Kaen disappeared from where he stood, phasing in right in front of Frost, his tail thrashing violently, a loud, vicious growl emanating from him, and his right hand around the Aisu's neck, slowly applying pressure.

Pi looked at Kaen, the two sharing a smile for a moment as she said, **"Thanks,"** before they looked back at Frost, her with a smirk and him with a glare. Being her diplomatic self, she answered, "How about we forget me spending the night with you, as well as every mention of it, and my boyfriend here won't tear out your spine and use it for tooth-floss?" To punctuate her statement, Kaen's grip started increasing by the second.

Frost managed to squeak, "Deal! Ack!" Flute, while extremely amused by the situation, simply shook his head with a slight grimace, muttering, _"Saiyan negotiations..."_ telepathically, and in response, Viola allowed herself to laugh, also telepathically.

Kaen pulled the Aisu closer, until their faces almost touched, and whispered, "You keep that in mind." He drew back his left hand, let go with his right, and punched Frost in the chest, hard enough to send him flying no less than five metres before hitting the ground and sliding another five.

When momentum released him, Frost stood up, coughing slightly, and wheezing out, "Well, that's probably got to be my best encounter with a Saiyan so far..." He paused, turning to face Flute, before asking, "They always this polite with you?" His voice was dripping with sarcasm, to which, luckily, the Saiyans paid no mind.

Flute just shrugged, replying, "I may gain ire with them, but then, there wasn't any bad blood to begin with, so it's your problem."

Suddenly, a dry laugh resounded through the hanger, coming from the corner, and a shadowy figure cried out, "Shot down again." The group, though startled by the newcomer, refused to show it, and turned to face him. The man, assuming it could be called a man, couldn't have passed for human no matter how hard he tried. As if the wings weren't enough, they could see feathers, and what looked like a beak, clearly defining him as some species of birdman. He also had some kind of weird device on his upper right arm, but it was impossible to tell, from that distance at least, what it was.

Frost glared at him, barking, "You would do well to remember your place Avery!"

The man, revealed to be Avery, simply smirked, an action that looked rather creepy given his averian features, before walking off without another word. As he left, a girl, who appeared to be Saiyan, at least from that distance, came through moments before him, jumping out of his way with a startled cry, and looking over the newcomers with curious interest. The five of them turned towards the doorway upon hearing her, the Nameks looking wary upon seeing her, and Frost nursing his neck.

A look bordering on recognition filled her face as she saw Kaen, and she ran up to him, stopping less than a foot in front of him, and pausing, before giggling, "You're cute."

The Saiyan male's eyebrows shot up, almost to his hairline, wearing a look made up of equal parts shock, surprise, and fear, as he noticed a high ki spike behind him. For his own health, he took a _very_ big step back, and she seemed to pout for a second, before she was knocked to her knees by a large hammer, Pi the wielder, who looked at the girl and shouted, **"Mine!"**

The girl just looked up, shouting indignantly, "Hey, what was that for?"

As she said this, Kaen noticed that she clearly didn't understand, and started smirking to himself. He opened all his senses, and spotted what was off about this new 'Saiyan' girl straight away. A little confused, Pi just raised an eyebrow as she said, **"I just told you what for!"**

At this, Kaen interjected, a smirk firmly entrenched on his face, "She clearly doesn't understand Saiya-Go, but then again, few cats do." A look of shock filled the new girl's face as he said this.

Frost shook his head, saying, "Kat, what are you trying to do? Get yourself killed?"

Before she could respond, Flute remarked, "She certainly seemed to know the right way to do it."

Dropping the illusion, and returning to a clearly feline appearance, as her ears and tail attested to, to say nothing of the fur covering much of her, she turned to Frost and said, "Well how was I 'sposed to know?" For a second, a flash of recognition came across Kaen's features, before it was hidden behind his usual expression again.

Frost simply smirked, saying, "Well, next time if you stuck around with me like I want you to, you'd know better." His statement was smacking with innuendo, so much even the romantically challenged Nameks could spot it. Kat just walked up to him, pausing a moment as she stood before him, before giving him a swift kick square between the legs. In response, he just gasped a last breath, grabbed his crotch, and collapsed to the ground.

Pi turned to look at Kaen, saying in a serious voice, "Don't complain about how I choose to punish you from now on." The man in question just winced almost sympathetically before nodding solemnly. Seeing this, she smiled and hugged his arm, as if forgetting instantly whatever prior animosity was between them, and missing the mild jealous look on Kat's face as she watched them.

Flute could only shake his head at this display, moving over to Frost and healing him, before saying, "Is there anywhere on this ship where I will be able to meditate in peace? It will make the task of finding my peoples' relics faster."

For the umpteenth time that day, Frost stood up, coughing a little, before replying, "There are a lot of free rooms on this ship, so please, feel free to take a larger one for yourself."

Viola just nodded and walked off, clearly intent on exploring, and leaving this circus behind, and Flute exited shortly after. It was only their enhanced hearing that allowed them to hear Frost's departing statement, after he'd regained his composure, "I need to go figure out what else this hunk of junk can do, so I'll be on the flight deck if you need me. The living quarters are down the hall, to the right."

Before he could get too far, Kaen called out, "And which way to the training and food rooms?"

With an amused look that went unnoticed by the Saiyans, he looked over his shoulder and replied, "Kat seems quite keen to show you around, so I'm sure she can help you."

The feline girl just jumped up, seemingly full of energy again, and chirped out, "Yes sir."

Frost shook his head, sighing, "If only you were this compliant when I wanted you to do me a favour or two." His voice made it sound innocent, but his face showed what he really meant, and he slipped out of the room before she could do anything more than glare in his direction. Obviously, her glare was nothing compared to what he'd already seen today, but the repercussions of sticking around weren't worth it.

After giving Kat a rather dry look, Pi turned to face Kaen and asked, "Hungry?" His stomach answered her before he could, and she smiled, looking towards Kat and saying, "Lead on please!"

After a slight smile, that she hoped didn't look as forced as it was, she turned away, calling, "Follow me!" over her shoulder, and beginning to walk to the cafeteria. The pair followed shortly after, Pi still latched onto Kaen's arm, as he gazed around at the ship, the engineering in his blood (from his father) kicking in. Pi, although she did look around the ship, kept a wary eye on Kat, who either didn't notice the scrutiny she was under, or chose to ignore it.

o-o-o

After a short amount of walking they arrived, and as soon as the smell of food reached his nostrils, all thoughts of machines, or much else for that matter, was forced from his mind. Letting go of his arm, she walked ahead to the order droid, asking for an old style Saiyan cuisine, which was served to her moments later. She tried a bit before scowling, and cursing softly to herself as she forced her way into the kitchen, and forced the chef robots out.

Kaen watched on with amusement on his face, and Kat with confusion, as one of the robots tried to protest her actions, and received a mild ki blast for its troubles. The blast sent it clear across the room, and as it lay there in a pile upon the ground, robotic cries of, "Why? Why was I programmed to feel pain?" could be heard.

Kaen started laughing heartily, and Pi poked her head back out again, looking at the robot and saying, "They can feel pain?" She looked to Kat for the answer.

Kat looked back, an amused smile on her face, as she answered, "Yeah. I'm not sure why, but I heard a few of Saiyans worked on this ship, so maybe they put that in as a way to relieve boredom or something. Either that, or Frieza wanted it to make himself feel big."

She smirked a little, looking back at Kaen and chirping, "Dinner will be ready soon!" No sooner had she said this than her head disappeared back into the kitchen again.

Kaen sat down at one of the nearby tables, a smile on his face, before he turned to study Kat for a bit. Feeling eyes upon her, she turned to him, noticing his look, and asking a little nervously, "What?"

He waited a moment, seemingly making sure he was correct, before saying plainly, "I remember you. I never forget a face. Now, would you mind telling me what you're doing here?"

She sighed, taking a seat across from him, but far enough away to not warrant her getting hit again, and said, "After you left, I decided I wasn't going to sit idly by while Frieza terrorized the galaxy. I lost everything that day, you know it as well as I do, and he is going to pay for it."

He just nodded, saying, "I understand that, but why are you _here?_ I never would have thought you'd work with an Aisu, and Frieza's brother at that."

She sighed again. This was obviously not something she wanted to discuss, but she felt compelled to at least give him some form of justification. After a few moments silence, spent collecting her thoughts, she answered, "Truth be told, I'd hoped it'd lead me to you again. I heard the reports; you're not exactly subtle, and I figured Frost was gonna run into you sooner or later. I mean, I know you're taken, but I don't know, I just... couldn't let you go that easily..." She trailed off, seemingly unwilling to say anymore.

Even had she wanted too, it seemed their moment to talk was over, as Pi exited the kitchen with a satisfied smirk on her face, dusting her hands, and the kitchen robots began serving up the food, obviously having been put to good use. As she sat down next to him, that smirk still intact, she remarked, "They'll know how to cook properly from now on."

Kaen smiled at her, saying, "That's good to hear," and noticing the food now laid out in front, the robots poised to refill any empty plates, he silently thanked whatever deity deemed him worthy of such treatment, before starting to eat in true Saiyan fashion. Pi soon joined him, after making a small gesture for Kat to join them.

The young girl smiled shyly, still a little uncomfortable around her after what had happened in the hanger, but none-the-less she joined in, albeit _much_ slower, after saying, "Thanks, I've never had Saiyan food before..."

o-o-o

After much eating, and the three had eaten their fill, Kaen leaned back, holding his stomach, before letting out a huge belch and saying, "Wow, that was good."

Pi smiled as she stood up, winking at Kaen before trotting off back into the kitchen. Kat watched her go for a moment, before saying to no one in particular, "So, that's her huh?" Her statement's intended listener was more than obvious, and he responded simply by nodding.

Before too long Pi came back with a large plate of true Vegetan-style custard slice, Kaen's favourite desert, and containing enough sugar to give an elephant diabetes, saying cheerfully, "I hope you saved room!"

He found it rather hard to resist the urge to drool, instead smiling appreciatively at her and replying, "Always." She placed it in front of him, after taking some for herself, and he was about to dig in when he remembered Kat. Clearly torn about the choice between food and generosity, a hard choice for any Saiyan, let alone one eating his/her favourite food, he looked at her again and asked, "Would you like some?"

Kat just looked at Pi, as if asking if it was okay, and Pi just smiled at her, quietly offering up some of hers so as to not take any from him. Kat smiled back in return, her eyes showing the depths of her thanks, but Kaen, deciding he'd already waited long enough, if not too long, began eating in earnest, savouring every bite. It had been over twelve months, four standard years, since he'd had it last.

Kat glanced at Pi for a moment, before casting her eyes down, and saying nervously, "I'm... I'm sorry about before... I... I know I did the wrong thing..."

Pi just nodded a little, saying, "It's okay." However, while her tone of voice was comforting, and understanding, the smirk on her face betrayed her feeling of superiority.

Seemingly over her nervousness, she cast a glance at Kaen for a moment, making sure he wasn't paying attention to them, before leaning in and whispering conspiratorially, "Do you think you could teach me that thing you did with the hammer?"

Realising that she clearly didn't want him to hear, Pi replied in the same hushed manner, "For Frost?"

Kat nodded, saying, "Yeah, it's mainly for him, but some of the other guys around here aren't much better."

Pi nodded and giggled quietly, saying, "Sure, no problem then."

Kat giggled a little herself, remarking, "Thanks. It looked quite effective."

Noticing the little giggle-fest, Kaen finished eating, casting a worried glance between the two before asking, in a voice that betrayed his nervousness to those who knew where to look, "What are you two up to?"

Pi just looked back, the epitome of innocence bar the smirk on her face, as she replied, "Nothing."

Hearing this, Kaen's eyes shot open, and he jumped to his feet, holding his hands out in front of him defensively and saying, "OOOHHH no, I know that look. Leave me out of whatever it is you're planning. I don't even want to know."

She giggled again, replying, "Okay, don't worry, I'm sure Frost will be more than happy to help." Saying this, she smirked again.

He was torn between protesting, and his gut feeling that whatever they were doing, it was something bad. Eventually, he trusted his instincts and stuck to his guns, trying to change the subject by saying, "Sure. Fine. Whatever. Which way to the training room?" He directed this last bit at Kat.

Pi nodded in agreement, and wasting no time Kat jumped up, chirping, "This way," again, and walking off. Pi followed behind, dragging Kaen with her, and he sighed quietly, whispering in a voice clearly not meant to be overheard, "Great, now there's two of them..."

o-o-o

After a short walk they arrived at the training room, and Kaen took a look around the room, trying to see what was so good about it. At a glance, it didn't look like anything special, just a large, empty room, easily large enough for a proper fight, but nothing to brag about.

Before they could do anything, a buzz over the intercom called Kat back up to the bridge, and she sighed, saying, "I better see what they want..."

Pi nodded, saying, "I'll show you some other time then."

Hiding his nervousness at whatever it was they were talking about, Kaen called out, "How does this thing work?"

Pausing at the doorway, Kat just pointed at a robot nearby, saying, "That robot can tell you everything you need to know. Well, I'll be back as soon as I can. I imagine you'll still be here." With this, she took her leave, grumbling under her breath, "I swear, sometimes it's like they don't want me to have any fun..."

Kaen waved goodbye lazily, already heading over to the robot to find out all he could, fast, while Pi began to explore the room. Upon finding another door, she cried out excitedly, "Hey, they have spare training outfits in here! I'm gonna change." As she disappeared inside, closing the door behind her, Kaen just waved lazily again, examining the robot, which seemed, in turn, to be examining him, waiting for something.

After studying it for a moment, he barked, "Tell me how to work everything in this room, now!" His tone made it clear it was an order, not a request.

The robot seemed afraid, and he could have sworn if it had pores it would have been sweating, but it managed to stutter, "All commands are voice activated. Would you like a list of commands?"

Kaen just glared at the robot, saying in a calm voice that inspired more fear than his growls, "Did I not make myself clear the first time?"

The robot backed away slightly before responding, "Prompt the training setting and command activate. For example, Gravity training activate. Training settings are Gravity, Duel-bot, and Temperature. Please specify amounts when calling activation. Please note, ki shields are constantly active to absorb ki shots that would normally breach the hull. Constant ki barrages may lead to shield depletion however, and cause failure, so please refrain from over taxing ki shields."

Kaen just nodded, barking out, "Gravity training activate, ten times." Within seconds, the gravity in the room levelled off at an equivalent of Vegeta-Sei, and he threw a few punches, getting the feel of the increased pull on his body. Satisfied, a smirk graced his face as he prepared himself for a proper workout. 'With a room as large as this,' he thought to himself, 'I can really let myself go. Well, more than I could before anyway...'

The door on the other side of the room slid open again, and as he heard Pi call out, "Wow, just like home," he turned to face her, taking a moment to admire what she was wearing. She held the new type armour in her hand still, wearing just the close fitting spandex body suit. However, unlike her last one, which covered her whole body, this one was cut short at the sleeves, leaving her forearms exposed, and cut short at the legs, fully exposing them. She put the armour on the ground for a moment as she began pinning her hair back with the dagger-like clasp she wore.

Kaen tried to refrain from staring, and tried to close his mouth, but he failed on both counts. However, it seemed Pi wasn't finished with her show yet, as she paused for a moment to run her finger along the collar, muttering, "It's too tight..." She took the clasp out of her hair again, causing it to spill across her shoulders, as she stretched out the body suit, cutting a v-shaped neckline into it. Satisfied, she slipped the armour over her head, which also hugged her form, and arched her back as she pinned her hair up again.

If anything, his jaw dropped lower, and she smiled at him, happy he was enjoying the show, and saying, "Ready to train a little?"

Trying to shake himself from his stupor, and failing rather miserably, he muttered, "Sure..." His voice still seemed a little dazed, and it showed on his face.

As she started to slip into her stance, she seemed to notice something, standing up again and saying, "Whoops, just a sec." She crouched down, taking a moment to tighten the strap on her boot, before rising again. However, as she rose, she lifted her legs first, slowly, and allowed the rest of her body to follow. While doing this, she allowed her hands to slide along her legs and thighs, her left hand continuing up her body to rest on her right shoulder, and her right hand extended to Kaen. She smirked, arrogant, determined, and alluring all at once, and used her extended hand to beckon him to fight, knowing that, with the show she put on, he wouldn't be able to.

Seeing she was right, she thought to herself, 'Sex is a weapon, and I wield it well.' Inside, she knew she'd never act like this in front of anyone, and would thoroughly punish anyone other than him who dared even think of her as such. Heck, she even usually punished him for it, but this time she decided to throw caution, and her usual reservations, to the wind, allowing her instincts to take over; as she watched him stand there, his mind clearly not on the impending fight, she couldn't help but be happy with the results.

With a smile on her face, she used her advantage to approach him slowly, even her walk adding to the effect. As she walked towards him, the one coherent thought that passed through his mind was how glad he was his outfit had been designed in such as way as to hide his excitement. She finally stopped just in front of him, resting her hand on his shoulder, and whispering in his ear, "Remember when we were kids?"

The thought, 'Obviously not well enough...' passed through his head, but all he could do in his current mentally clouded state was numbly stammer out, "Uh... yeah?"

"Never..." She laid her other hand on his opposite shoulder, "Drop..." She looked into his eyes, "Your..." She raised her right leg back, "Guard!" She punctuated her statement by driving her knee into his stomach.

In retrospect, he was glad she had attacked where she did, instead of his other obvious weak spot, but all he could do was drop to the ground, holding his stomach and cursing, before phasing out and reappearing several metres away, muttering, "That was cheap..."

She just winked at him, replying, "Just using my natural advantage," as she took her stance. Kaen just growled to himself, falling into his own unique stance, before closing his eyes, not trusting them at the moment lest she try and pull the same trick on him again, opting instead to rely on his ki sense to track her movements.

After a moment of silence which the two spend sizing each other up, Kaen smirked, saying, "Let's see how well you've trained..." before raising both his hands until they rest, crossed, at his forehead, and crying out, "Helios Flare!"

As the blinding flash erupted through the room, she quickly closed her eyes, waiting for it to subside, before retaliating with "Titan Burst!" but he phased out before the blast hit.

As he phased back in, they stared each other down, breaking the standoff as one.

Kaen threw his arms back, firing off his trademark attack with a cry of "Inferno Blast!"

At the same time, Pi fired back, shouting, "Titan Fury!" and the two beams collide, feuding for a few moments, before his started to be overcome, and he cut the flow to the beam, crossing his arms, and blocking the brunt of her attack.

Kaen just smirked as he lowered his arms, saying, "Not bad, but I've seen better."

She smirked back, replying, "Yeah, but I can't use my Disruption of Gaia in here. Besides, I don't wanna hurt you too badly." Saying this, she winked at him.

His smirk remained, saying, "Why do you think you're winning, hm? Don't wanna mess up that pretty face."

Her smirked again, remarking, "Compliments won't help you win, but they won't hurt either."

He fell back into his stance, smirk still firmly intact, and replying, "Are you gonna talk, or fight?"

"Sorry, don't want you to stress your weaker muscle," she taunted back, her smirk deepening as she mirrored his stance, but before he could respond she phased out, reappearing in front of him, and with a cry of "Rock Crusher!" swung her combined fists, covered in destructive green ki, in an arc, connecting directly with his chest, and sending him flying across the room.

Using his ki to stop himself before he could hit the wall, he hung upside down for a moment, regarding her, before calling out, "Hmm... That actually hurt." Righting himself, he hung in mid-air for a moment, thinking over his options. 'Hmm... I can't use my best attacks 'coz most of them are lethal... Damn, she really caught me off guard. I haven't been able to think properly since that little show she put on.' An idea struck him, and he smirked again, thinking, 'Well, two can play at that game...'

Without warning, he phased out again, phasing in behind her, and grabbing her by the base of the tail with his left hand, not enough to hurt, but enough to hold her. With his right hand, he grabbed her around the mouth, starting to drain her energy with his Heat Thief technique. Finally, in an effort to distract her, he used the hand holding her tail to lightly stroke it, still holding on to it.

She tried not to giggle, the sensation feeling ticklish at first, but as he leaned in, whispering, "You like that, huh?" in her ear, she quickly realised what he was up to.

'Shit, he's trying to use do to me what I did to him before...' she thought hurriedly. Fighting down the rising feelings, she decided to end this before it went somewhere she wasn't sure she was ready for, and drove her elbow into his ribs.

With his now free right hand, he fired a Blaze Cannon at her now exposed back, but, acting on instinct alone, she dropped to the ground, the majority of the blast sailing harmlessly over her head. She sent an elbow at his chin in an effort to put some distance between them, before raising a single hand over her head. With the thought 'This has gone on long enough.' running through her head, she formed her strongest attack, launching it with a cry of "Gaia Bomb!"

With a look bordering on panic on his face, he phased out, racing to put as much distance between them as possible, but as the attack exploded, the blast expanded rapidly, catching him in it's wake, and causing the entire ship to shudder from under the force of it. When the blast cleared, she could see him still conscious, and standing, although seeming to have trouble with both.

Smirking again, she asked, "Had enough?"

He simply smirked in kind, albeit a little painfully, as he replied, "You'll have to knock me out, and you know it."

She nodded, saying, "Always stubborn. Tell you what, we stop fighting now, and I'll kiss you better." She smirked again, although this time it was more alluring than boastful.

His face showed his inner war, as his pride at never calling a fight fought with his heart and common sense. Finally, he let his pride go this once, bowing his head a little and sighing, "...Fine."

Almost instantly, the hardened fighter was gone, and her face melted back into her childish smile as she giggled before trotting over to him, kissing him softly on the cheek. She helped him stand, saying, "Would you like a snack?"

In true Saiyan fashion, the pair either failed to remember, or chose to forget, the fact they had eaten a huge meal not one hour before, and he pretended to think it over, like he used to do when he was younger, before nodding, replying, "Yeah, why not?" And with that, the two headed out in search of food, the training room and all that went in it all but forgotten, and headed into one of the elevators, intent on heading towards the mess hall.

o-o-o

Meanwhile, in another part of the ship, Flute headed in the direction of the control room, the location of the next dragon ball freshly in his mind. As he entered, he saw Kat, Avery, and Flute, all in places it seemed were designated to them, but no one seemed to notice his arrival. He looked about, feeling a little uncomfortable with the feeling he had no control of the ship, especially since the others asked so few questions. No one but Viola knew the true importance of the dragon balls they sought, and thus the greater burden of worry sat with them.

He stood there for a moment, wondering why they hadn't noticed his entry, until the answer hit him. 'Of course, most of the people of the Cold Empire are unable to sense ki on their own, and there's enough noise hear to drown out footsteps.' He cleared his throat a little to make himself known.

Kat spun her seat around, chirping, "Hiya."

The menfolk were far less responsive, Avery just glancing over his shoulder, and Frost turning around, asking in a voice that bordered on rude, "What do you want?"

Unsure of how to explain his situation, he paused in thought a moment before replying, "I have our next destination."

Kat's eyes lit up, and she exclaimed, "Really? Where?"

His face hid his nervousness well as he answered, "I do not know the place exactly, merely the direction."

With one, hairless, eyebrow raised, Frost said sceptically, "How in the hell do you figure that?

Viola chose this moment to turn up, obviously having finished exploring, and calling out as she entered, "That is not yours to question."

He turned his back to them, saying dismissively over his shoulder, "It's my ship, and I can ask what I like."

Before he knew what had hit him, she'd walked up to him, slamming his over the head with her own hammer, constructed purely of ki lightning, and saying angrily, "We will tell you what we feel you need to know, and nothing more. And until we finish our mission, you will do what we tell you, understand?"

Kat's eyes widened at the sight, thinking, 'Wow, she can do it too... I've really gotta learn how to do that...' Even the usually stoic Flute and Avery seemed to find the situation amusing, the former smirking, and the latter chuckling dryly to himself.

In a defeated tone, Frost muttered his reply from his place on the ground, "Understood."

Viola just smiled, a satisfied smile, and said, "Good," before turning back to Flute, nodding her head.

As Flute made his way to the command console, directing the flight crew in the direction he wanted, Frost picked himself up from the pile he lay in, muttering to himself about his poor treatment, his social status, and other nonsensical, and equally unimportant gibberish, but his complaining was cut short as Avery, overhearing him, started laughing louder.

He turned towards the birdman, directing an angry glare his way, as he spat, "I should pluck you bald." He paused as what appeared to be a barrel extended from the device on Avery's arm, and was pointed at his head, obviously naming the device as some sort of gun. His look turning nervous, Frost stammered, "But you have a big gun, and I like my head where it is."

With a dry "Boom!" from the Torian, the barrel retracted again, and his laughter resumed. Even Kat found herself giggling, despite her best effort to contain it.

As Flute, obviously done with his directions, peered over at Viola, motioning he was prepared to leave, she directed her gaze back to the Aisu, saying icily, "I take it there will be no further problems?"

Though it was phrased as such, her tone made it clear it was not a question, but he answered anyway, trying to hide his nervousness as he nodded and said, "I'll just be here trying to learn what these controls do. It didn't come with a manual."

She just raised an eyebrow, but said nothing else as she turned, and the two Nameks exited together.

As they walked down the hall, Flute looked onward, but began speaking, "I think it's vital we avoid telling the others what the dragon balls do at all costs."

She nodded solemnly, also keeping her gaze forward, as she responded, "I agree, especially that Frost. He's the type that would misuse them."

A hint of a smile graced Flutes lips as he said, "Indeed. Arrogant little individual is he not?"

The same almost smile appeared mirrored on her face as she replied, "Agreed. And if he's better than his brother, I'd hate to meet Frieza."

"Indeed."

They said nothing more until they reached the elevators. Flute pressed the call button, saying, "Let us find Kaen and Pi."

She smiled, an actual smile this time, and answered, "Yes, lets." After standing there nervously for a moment, she said a little hesitantly, "I hope you don't mind me stepping in like I did..."

He shook his head, as the vacant elevator arrived, and replied as they stepped inside, "It's quite alright."

Despite his reassurance, she still looked a little nervous as she continued, "It's just that... I... heard your distress..." She tapped the side of her head at this point, "and thought he might be more likely to listen to me, after Pi's little performance in the hanger."

Flute was a little silent before replying, "It's hard to remember how few people know to sense ki, or things such as that for that matter. Explaining it takes time we do not have."

At that moment on the bridge, Kat spied something glittering on the console in front of her. She watched it for a moment, noticing it flickering yellow, then orange, then off, before the cycle repeated itself. Her eyes lit up for a moment, and she looked around to see if anyone else noticed the shiny button, but it seems Frost was too bust nursing his bruised ego, and Avery was too far away.

She reached for it slowly, before quickly pulling her hand back, muttering, "I shouldn't..." However, the button just kept blinking, it's cycle never faltering. Yellow, orange, blank, yellow, orange, blank. She squirmed in her seat for a while, occasionally reaching for it and pulling back, twisting her head at times as though to watch it from different angles, her ears flattening back before standing upright again, and her tail swinging back and forth. If anyone were to watch her, they would notice she looked much like a kitten with a new toy.

Finally, it became too much for her, and she hastily pressed it. The lights in the ship immediately turned off, before returning in a red colour, and the air circulation becomes just a whisper. A computerised voice called out, "Main power conduit in self-repair mode. Please allow 120 minutes before reactivation. Minimal life support operational. Temperature control, offline. All elevators, locked down."

Frost immediately starts to panic, looking around frantically as he said, "How the hell did this happen? Oh man, someone's gonna blame me!"

Avery whipped around in his seat to face Kat, immediately suspecting her, and crying out, "What did you do?"

Her face one of total innocence, and seemingly offended at being asked, Kat shot back, "What makes you think _I_ did anything?"

Catching wind of the conversation, Frost spun around, looking between the two of them before asking, "What happened?"

Without looking away from the Neko, Avery replied, "I think the kitten did something, but she won't admit to it."

She stood up angrily, shouting, "Shut up bird! You're always trying to get me into trouble just 'coz Frost likes me more than you!"

Avery stood up himself, shooting back, "And why do you think that is, huh? He only likes you more because he has it in his head that if he does you'll put out..."

Getting frustrated with the pair, and uncomfortable with where their argument was headed, Frost shouted over the top of them, "Calm down you two! At least it will fix itself in 2 hours. We don't die, things will just get warm. I just pity whoever happens to be in the elevators right now..."

In the elevator they shared, Pi looked around as it shuddered to a halt, saying, "What the...?"

Kaen just groaned, muttering, "I bet the lizard's behind this..."

At the same time, in a different elevator, Flute sat down as he heard the message, thinking out loud, "Looks like we're going to be delayed."

Viola made a sour face, muttering, "Probably Frost's way of payback..."

Flute looked thoughtful for a moment before shaking his head, replying, "I don't think so. It would end him in a great deal of pain and he knows it, so I doubt it is actually his fault."

She looked down at him, the sour face still on, before shaking her head and muttering, "You're far too trusting..."

Without looking up, he said, "There's a Neko-Jin on board. With all the lighted buttons on the controls, do you not think her instincts may take over?

She pondered this for a moment, before yielding, sighing, "I suppose... the Torian's probably not much better..." She sat down heavily, discarding her cloak, and grumbling to herself, "I am _so_ going to hurt those two when we get out of here..."

Flute just smirked to himself, ignoring the glare cast his way, as the two settled into meditation to pass the time.

Over in the other elevator, Pi leaned up against the wall of the elevator to relax a little, and before too long Kaen did much the same, closing his eyes after deciding that if he _must_ be stuck here he might as well get some rest. She shuffled over, resting her head against him, and he opened one eye, looking down at her, before adjusting his position to make her more comfortable, receiving a kiss on the cheek for his trouble.

o-o-o

Not more than 20 minutes passed, as the ship began to warm up, it's path having placed it near enough to the local star to be warmed by it's rays, and the diffusion of the power conduits heat energy made the air quite humid. Despite this, the male Saiyan seemed perfectly at ease with the temperature, resting calmly in the elevator without a drop of sweat on him. His female counterpart was comfortable enough, but even she still had to wipe sweat from her brow every so often.

In the Nameks' elevator, things weren't quite as relaxed. Flute had already discarded his cloak, and as Viola began looking more and more uncomfortable, telepathic grumbling could be heard.

Flute smirked to himself, conveying, _"On Namek, we meditated with pure endurance, in blazing heat, to such points where the strain of our thought could shift mountains."_

A glare settled on her face, one even conveyed telepathically, as she responded, _"We didn't have that luxury. Quite the opposite in fact. With three moons the temperature often got to below freezing."_

The ever patient Flute replied, _"And yet it is a form of endurance."_

With frustration rarely felt before, she said, _"Well yes, but that doesn't help me much now, does it? I'm used to freezing cold temperatures. I can't handle the heat..."_

With a voice like that you'd use to explain to a small child, Flute explained, _"Remember back to those times. Remember what you focused on back then. Try to forget the temperature. Focus on the meditation."_

She grumbled a little more before roughly severing the connection and returning focus, but she did manage to settle down once more, to which Flute just smirked to himself as he returned to meditating as well.

o-o-o

Another 20 minutes later, and things were getting hotter. Pi removed her armoured vest and tied her hair back, for what seemed like the tenth time. Kaen, however, still seemed perfectly relaxed, still without a single bead of sweat on him, although for his sake, he kept his eyes closed, knowing about her current state of dress.

He heard Pi giggling to herself a little, and without opening her eyes, he muttered, "What?"

"It was two years before you left," she answered.

This time, his voice conveyed confusion as he said, "What?"

"You were off training, and your mother told me to get you home for dinner." Though his face showed no change, she could tell he was showing interest in her story, so she leaned her head against him again and continued, "It was warm that season too. You must have gone for a swim. That's when I saw you." She giggled again.

An air of clarification filled the elevator as he said solemnly, "Oh," a thin smile forming on his face.

"It was so small then..." She paused, waiting just long enough for panic to set in, before finishing, with a smirk on her face, "Your tail I mean."

With his eyes still closed, he smacked her on the back of the head. Well, to anyone else it would have been a smack, but she barely felt it. She laughed again and hugged his arm, and in their relaxed state they failed to realise that his tail was coiled around her leg, and her tail around his.

o-o-o

A full hour had now passed, and things just seemed to be getting worse. Flute turned his back to Viola, stripping himself to the waist in an effort to keep as cool as possible. Viola merely squirmed in her seat, trying not to look behind her, or to let the heat get to her, but seemed to be failing on both counts. She also tried to keep her thoughts on her meditation, but was failing that as well. Luckily, with what was going on behind her, she did manage to keep her thoughts to herself, although only just.

Flute started poking about the crack of the elevator doors, mumbling thoughtfully, "So... These aren't sealed..." Viola, not hearing him, started mumbling to herself about the ramifications of using her electricity to power the elevator, but Flute shook his head, saying in a voice loud enough for her to hear, "You might damage it permanently, but I do have a temporary solution."

Without looking back, she called back in a tired voice, "Oh?"

Flute nodded and took back his coat, snapping his fingers, and from above them it began to drizzle, just a small amount of rain.

She sighed relaxingly, running her head under the light shower as she said, "_Much_ better..."

He began to smile a little, cupping his hands, and drinking the water that collected. She followed suit, and it took her a moment to realise that she was now facing him, their faces only a couple of inches apart. She drew back quickly, trying not to blush, and his stoic expression hid his surprise.

It took her a few moments to calm her heart, the reason for it racing in the first place escaping her, but when she did she realised that her hand was wet. Looking down, she saw her top was now quite soaked and clingy, and she hurriedly folded her arms and turned away, her blush stronger than before. Unaware of why she did this, Flute just took a step back to give her some room.

Unsure of how to react, she just stammered, "S... Sorry..." before falling uncomfortably silent again.

"Uh... No, my fault," was the best reaction he could muster, and he snapped his fingers again, causing the rain to cease.

Back on the bridge, Frost was studying the control panel intently, trying to locate the reset switch to activate the power conduits again. Kat, still feigning innocence, just walked around the room, trying to find the coolest part, under the ever-vigilant eye of Avery, still unwavering in his opinion she'd done it. With an exclamation of, "Ah ha!" Frost hit a switch on the controls, and with a buzz the ship was awash with light, the air circulation resuming cooling the air rapidly.

With a sudden jolt the elevators sprang to life, and thinking quickly Flute used a small burst of ki to evaporate all the water. However, while the jolt wasn't enough to unsettle the Nameks, it did cause Pi to loose her balance, causing her to fall to the centre of the elevator. However, due to her firm grip on Kaen's arm, he was dragged down with her, and her centre of balance was thrown off by the same grip. The end result was Pi falling on her back on the elevator floor, and Kaen landing on top of her.

With a small bell, the doors opened, and directly across from them was Flute and Viola. After analysing how they were situated, Flute just closed his eyes in disgust, spitting, "Typical," and walked off down the hall, Viola following after a couple moments.

The Saiyans just looked at each other, shrugging simultaneously, before Kaen used his ki to lift him back to his feet, offering Pi a hand up. She took his hand, sticking her tongue out at him and she muttered, "Show off," in a good-natured voice, but he just shrugged again before pulling her up. Giving him a kiss on the cheek, she hurried off to the kitchen, but he just ambled behind her, knowing that it'd be a while until the food was ready, robots or no.

End Chapter 08

To be continued...

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Author's notes:

Neko/Neko-Jin: means 'cat person'

Torian/Tori-Jin: means 'bird person'

Not very original, huh?


	10. The Final Straw

--- The Phoenix Chronicles ---

Chapter 09 - The Final Straw

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**"Geez, King Vegeta wasn't kidding when he said it wouldn't be hard..."**

That was an understatement if ever he'd heard one. The team had finally arrived on Hunaiya-Sei, prepared for anything that may come about. Well, they thought they were, but they never prepared for this. From what they saw, the planet was in ruins, and looked like it had been that way for some time.

**"I don't get it. Why would the king send us to a planet like this?"** One of the men asked.

Taking up his role as commander, Kaen spoke over the top of them to make himself heard, **"Look guys, I don't know what's going on, but I don't like it, so stay alert, and keep watch for any potential trouble. Now move out."**

The team moved carefully through the rubble, watching every dark corner to see if there were any survivors of what appeared to be a great battle, but every time there was nothing, and nobody. In the quiet that reigned over the planet, he could hear the whispers of the group. **"It almost looks like someone beat us to it..."**

His eyes widened in panic, and he shouted, **"Shit! It's a trap! We've been set up! Everyone, back to the ships!"**

It was too late, as before they could get more than five feet, fifty-odd power signatures flared to life on their scouters, surrounding them, and cutting off their escape. One of them, the leader if the markings on his armour were correct, walked forward to address them. "I must say young Saiyan, I'm impressed you worked it out, even if it was too late to do anything about it."

Kaen growled in response, "Who was it? I assume you're here for us, so who wanted us dead?"

The man simply chuckled, saying, "I could tell you, but why waste the breath, when you won't live long enough to think it over."

He simply fell into stance, his team following suit, and without looking back he shouted, "Alright boys, if it's our time to die, let's go out in true Saiyan fashion! Let's give 'em hell, and take as many of these bastards with us as we can!" And with that, the fight was on.

It was a massacre. For hours the two teams had fought, the Saiyans severely outnumbered, yet not backing down an inch. Dead bodies lay strewn across the planet's surface, some whole, some in pieces, and some vaporised completely. The underdog Saiyan team had put up a grand fight - of the fifty attackers, only three remained - but it was not enough. And as the last of the elder Saiyans fell, protecting his commanding officer from a blast, the young warrior was left to face them alone, his power reserves dangerously low.

"And then there was one," the enemy commander taunted, as he lowered his arm. There was no doubt the man was tough; he had personally killed three of the nine now deceased Saiyans. And if Kaen couldn't stop him, that number would rise to four before the day was out.

The young Saiyan struggled to catch his breath as the remaining three turned to face him, and after a moment of staring each other down, the leader spoke again, "I must say you monkeys surprised me. We were faster, stronger, had more numbers, and yet you still managed to kill ninety-four percent of the team. In the end, however, it's not enough. No matter what you do monkey, we will always be better than you. Our victory was assured from the moment you stepped foot on this planet."

The man smirked, a smirk filled with superiority, before continuing, "I'll admit I was a little worried when you monkeys turned up late. I thought maybe you'd figured it out and fled. After all, we got a little bored of waiting and decided to have some fun, and I was a little concerned you'd seen the damage and gone home. But I guess I gave you monkeys too much credit."

Panting heavily from exhaustion, Kaen stood on shaky legs, his right hand glowing with white light, as he growled out, "I'm not done yet shit-eater!"

His ego blinding him, the man smirked again, mistaking Kaen's plan for something else, and saying, "You think I'm worried? I've heard about your monkey fake moon technique. I assure you you'll be dead before you've finished transforming, but you're welcome to try."

With a feral smirk, and laughing in his head about the man's stupidity, he simply panted, "Thanks," before concentrating on his attack. He'd been working on this technique for a while now, but had never used it before, so he just hoped it worked... With a cry of "Balefire Disk!" he launched it, throwing his right arm, up to this point beside him, up into the air, the white ki shaping into a large, razor-sharp disk of ki, flying vertically through the air towards the remaining men.

However, in his exhaustion, his aim was off, so instead of slicing through the leader, his target, it hit the man to his left, cutting him clean in half down the centre, and flying off into the air. Kaen fell to his knees, the energy he used to stand being used instead to redirect the disk and bring it back this way, but donning the face of a man defeated.

As he watched the bisected man fall, the two halves of his face forever frozen in shock, the leader couldn't help but laugh. "Nice trick kid. You monkeys just keep surprising me. Still, it wasn't enough, and I don't think you've got another one of those in you."

The urge to smirk proved too great to resist as Kaen panted out, "What makes you think that one's finished?"

With a look of horror on his face, the man turned back, seeing the white disk of ki baring down on him, the time to dodge already passed. However, before it could hit, the last soldier, thinking quickly, tried to tackle him out of the way, having his head and left arm diced off diagonally for his troubles.

He did, however, save his commander's life, the disk's not striking a fatal wound, but it didn't miss either. The white-hot disk sliced cleanly through his shoulder, severing his right arm completely, the now useless appendage just falling to the ground. The shock never left the now alone commanders face; the disk sliced through painlessly, despite forever robbing him of his natural right arm.

All too soon, however, the shock became replaced by pure rage, and he rounded on the young warrior, finding him smirking at his handiwork.

Kaen smirked proudly. Sure, he was disappointed that the guy was still alive, and sure he was probably going to die now, but he had managed to reduce the number of survivors to one. Well, most of one anyway. Staring Death in the face and laughing, he taunted, "Looks like you ain't so tough after all. We 'inferior monkeys' managed to off forty-nine members of your team, compared to your nine Saiyans. Well, forty nine and a bit..."

He was cut off by a left hook to the face, dislocating his jaw, as the man, now angry beyond words, drew his left hand back, forming the killing blast, and spat, "Soon it will be ten Saiyans. Any last requests monkey?"

Figuring 'Yeah, let me go' would sound too stupid and cowardly, he snapped his jaw back in place, using all the energy he could spare to spit in the guy's face and cry defiantly, "Yeah, shoot straight ya bastard!"

With no free arm to wipe away the spit, the man's glare darkened, and he replied coldly, "So be it," before firing. In his anger, he didn't notice Kaen use the last of his energy to Zanzoken out of the way, the force of the blast burying him under the rubble, the exertion knocking him out cold, and his last thought, before darkness claimed him, was 'I'm sorry Pi... I failed...'

o-o-o

He awoke with a start, opening his eyes slowly to take in the room around him, still unfamiliar territory despite spending several days on the ship already. He lay back down heavily, his mind still racing. The nightmares had come back, and he didn't know why. Ever since Pi had found him, he'd thought they were gone forever, but they were back, stronger than before, and the reason for it couldn't be good.

Shaking his head to clear it of erroneous thoughts, he arose, getting prepared for the day ahead. The time for sleep was past; it was time to train. Whatever the day would bring, he would make sure he was ready for it, and he had a feeling he wasn't going to like what he found.

o-o-o

The Icebreaker cut through the emptiness around it, reaching speeds until-now unheard of, as it raced un-erringly towards its destination, the fourth dragon ball. The ship granted them swift passage, cutting the time to a mere fraction, days instead of weeks. Never the less, the stoic Flute had made it his mission to ensure those few days went by without incident, choosing to watch over the Aisu Frost to make sure he didn't do something unexpected without knowing.

Frost, for his part, spent the days standing over the controls, mumbling to himself, and anyone else who would listen, about his treatment, and general increase in pain since their chance meeting several days ago. Kat spent her time either training or hanging out with the Saiyans, or simply giggling at Frost's mumbled rants from her seat nearby. And Avery, with a persona to match the Namek, chose to watch over Kat like Flute did Frost, to make sure nothing else happened.

Frost glanced over his shoulder at the Namek, seeing him seated over to the side, obviously meditating. Turning back to the console, he called, "We'll be arriving at your target destination in a few hours."

Flute simply nodded, standing up and walking out of the room in search of his companions without a word. Watching him go, Kat whispered to herself, "Weird..."

Frost, however, was closer than she thought, overhearing her, and commented with true earnest, "Must be nice to have friends like that."

Spinning around, and fixing him with an accusing glare, she said, "Were you listening in on me?"

He took a step back, raising his hands defensively, saying, "Not directly, sorry." Lowering his hands again, he continued his thought, "Now, why can't we be friends like all them?"

She eyed him warily, replying, "What are you up to now?"

"I just mean why can't we get along as they do," he explained, glancing at Avery, "I mean, there's a hell of a lot of animosity here."

She stood up, exclaiming, "You want me and the _bird_ to be friends? Ha!" The bird in question just glared at her, but said nothing.

Realising this was getting nowhere fast, he said, "Okay, okay, what I mean is, it can't hurt for us to be more trusting, closer... I mean, really, would it hurt to be nicer to each other?"

She glared a little longer, switching her focus between the two of them, before dropping her head in defeat and sighing, "Fine..."

He smirked, a self-satisfied smirk, as he said, "Oooh yeah, getting to be friends is a great way to kick it off, so we can get it on..." He trailed off, his face dropping, as he realised something, "... I just said that out loud, didn't I?" The look on Kat's face said it all; her glare was back, stronger than before, and her hands, still by her sides, started twitching. Suddenly looking very worried, and reflexively crossing his hands over between his legs, he stammered, "I am so gonna feel pain, aren't I?"

An evil smirk filled her face as she watched him trying vainly to defend himself, and before he knew what happened she used her newly taught technique to lay down the hurt. 'I really need to thank Pi for teaching me how to do this...' she thought to herself as she made her own hammer, one of pure dark ki, vanish with but a thought.

As she watched him lying on the floor, whinging about how "It hurts and stings," Pi's words echoed through her mind. 'You must remember not to abuse or overuse this technique,' she had said, 'This technique has been passed down for generations, and every time it came with the same warning; if you use it too much too often, they may become immune to it.'

The thought, 'He's had this coming for a long time now,' ran through her mind's eye, overriding Pi's advice, and she hit him again, revelling in his cries of pain. Deciding to be truly cruel, and that, once again, he'd had it coming a long time, she hit him one more time, before deciding to leave the room, lest she continue hitting him.

And all the while, Avery watched on with a smirk on his face, but made sure to file away the thought 'Note to self: do not piss her off without weapon drawn.'

o-o-o

In the mean time, Flute made his way down to the training room, figuring it'd be the first place he's find his Saiyan companions, the second being the cafeteria. As he entered, he noticed the relaxed air about the room. Kaen was obviously only doing a light workout, not even breaking a sweat in the 20 times gravity, or seeming to strain to avoid any of the shots from the six training droids. And Pi, although with him in the room, seemed to have focused her efforts on cheering him on, although he noticed she did occasionally stop one of the robots from attacking his flank, her actions seemingly oblivious to Kaen.

Looking around, he noticed he seemed to miss the presence of Viola, although he didn't know why. If he'd bothered to ask, he would have been told that she had decided to use the holograph room to 'spend some time in nature,' as she put it. However, seeing as he couldn't place the reason he missed her, he remained silent.

Finally noticing his green-skinned comrade, Kaen barked out, "End training session," to deactivate the gravity and training droids, before turning to face him, nodding once in greeting.

Flute nodded once back, saying, "We're a few hours away still."

Kaen just shrugged his shoulders, saying, "Good, got enough time for a snack then."

Flute looked a little hesitant as he said, "I sensed something... odd about the planet, though it was hard to place. Regardless, I have a very foreboding feeling about this."

The Saiyan male just snorted, saying, "You've always got bad feelings about places. I don't think there's any planet we've been on where you haven't said something similar."

The Namek's irritation was obvious as he shot back, "With good reason I might add."

Kaen just smirked, a true Saiyan smirk, before saying, "Oh come on, what was so bad about the last place?"

At the mention of a snack, and the beginning of an argument, Pi trotted off ahead of Kaen to prepare the food. If things went like Saiyan arguments usually did there would be fists involved, and there's nothing more Saiyans liked to do after fighting than eat. Well, almost nothing...

Flute shook his head, saying, "The energy feels very concentrated, like a group of people, or a powerful presence, directly around the dragon ball."

The smirk still firmly intact, Kaen just shrugged again, replying, "So what, we've got a little fight on our hands, what else is new?"

Flute paused, looking around to make sure no one else was in earshot, before continuing, "The ki presence felt linked to your own. I do not like this at all."

His face fell, a look bordering on shock and worry replacing his smirk, as he stammered out, "What? How?"

Shaking his head in a semi-reassuring manner, Flute said, "Not linked as in a bond of some kind, but as if it were focused on you. I think someone, or something, will be waiting for us."

Kaen just started growling fiercely, his tail thrashing behind him under his coat, as he replied, "There's only a handful of people who I know who'd be waiting for me on any planet bar Vegeta-Sei, and none of them are good news."

"So you can understand my apprehension in this matter," Flute answered knowingly.

A face suddenly flashed into Kaen's mind's eye, a face he could never forget if he tried. It's hard to forget the man who's seemingly made it his life's work to kill you.

He still remembered the first time he had met his would-be killer, his name still unknown to him. He hadn't been strong enough to win that day, and after all that time, his pride still hurt from it. It wasn't the last time they fought either. It seemed that every three months, or year in the standard time, the man had found him again, regardless of where he was, and they fought again.

Every year, on the same day, they resumed their battle; every year, Kaen realised he wasn't strong enough to win; and every year, he took another hit to his pride, being forced to flee. Every year, for three years now. And as the calculations finished in his mind, he realised that today would be the fourth; the fourth anniversary of the carnage on Hunaiya-Sei.

Suddenly, the reason for his nightmares returning was painfully clear...

Kaen snarled, his right hand clenching and releasing unconsciously, as he said, "Can you tell me anything about it, what it felt like, what it looked like, anything?"

Flute, while shocked at his behaviour, and taking it as a bad sign, hid behind his usual emotionless mask as he replied, "Nothing more than what I have said. Something will be waiting for us, or more specifically, you."

Kaen closed his eyes, visibly willing himself to calm down; it took him several moments, which was another sure sign something bad was going to happen. As he walked out, he paused, making one final fierce statement, "If it's who I think it is, this time I won't miss..." With not even so much as a glance back, Kaen wandered out in search of Pi, leaving Flute to ponder over the situation.

His sense of foreboding stronger than ever, he headed back to the control room, pausing outside the holo-deck as he sensed Viola's presence nearby, before shaking his head and continuing on, deciding it wasn't worth interrupting her over; they had enough people worrying prematurely as it was, they didn't need another.

o-o-o

The time passed with a solemn attitude, none willing to discuss further on what Flute had sensed, and all too soon the Icebreaker slowed to a halt outside the gravity of the planet. Flute and Frost had reached an agreement: The Icebreaker would remain in orbit unless absolutely necessary, to ensure a swift getaway if need be, and Flute's ship, and/or the pods, would be used for deployment. And with this agreement in mind, Flute waited in the docking bay, looking down at the planet below.

Viola walked in not much later, looking fairly relaxed, but immediately sensing Flute's concern. Her face became one of worry as she asked, "What's wrong? What did I miss?"

Without looking back at her, Flute said gravely, "This may prove to be a difficult journey this time."

Her worry being replaced with confusion, she asked, "Why?"

Before Flute could respond, Pi walked into the hangar, partially dragging Kaen to hurry with her, and he seemed to stumble a bit as she dragged him, looking for the most part like he was going to a funeral, and not looking forward to it one iota. Shooting Viola a look that said 'Not now,' he turned around to regard the Saiyans.

Frost's voice crackled over the speaker system, "We'll stay here and man the controls. After the last few scuffles you described, I think it's best someone stay here to ensure a quick getaway if need be."

"Thanks for the support..." Kaen grumbled to himself.

Pi squeezed his arm, saying, "What's wrong Kaen? Are you worried about what's down there? You know we're invincible together."

He smiled down at her, secretly hoping it didn't look too fake, before replying, "I know..." Dropping his voice, he whispered, in a voice not meant to be heard, "I won't lose you... not again..."

Flute waited until the conversation turned quiet before beginning to lay out the plan. "My ship is now better suited to ferry us down to retrieve the dragon ball. I won't lie, something strong is down there, and it might be waiting for us," a half-truth, "So we need to act fast. Getting into unnecessary fights is wasting time we haven't got."

Stunning everyone with his out of character behaviour, Kaen nodded, saying, "I agree."

Pi, the most shocked of all, raised her hand to feel his forehead, saying, "Kaen, are you feeling okay?"

He nodded, as reassuringly as he could, before saying, "I'm fine. Don't worry. I'm just... eager to get back to my training." As she nodded, he thought to himself, 'Okay, so that's not exactly the whole truth, but I'm not lying.' He noticed she still seemed a little unsure of what was going on, and that she held onto his arm a little tighter, as if not just to reassure him, but herself as well.

o-o-o

Flute headed to the ship and climbed aboard, feeling a little better as he sat at the controls, despite the situation, now back in familiar territory. Viola, after giving the Saiyans - Kaen in particular - another quick look, an eyebrow raised in both question and concern, headed on after Flute.

Unconsciously, Kaen's tail had wrapped itself around Pi's leg, causing the girl to blush like mad. He looked down at her, saying, "C'mon, we don't want to keep them waiting..." before beginning to lead her into the ship. Pi, too embarrassed to do anything besides nod dumbly, just followed his lead, allowing herself to be directed around, while Kaen was too concerned about what lay ahead to even notice her embarrassment, let alone it's cause.

Once they were on board, Pi fell into Kaen's lap as he sat down. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow, and she just blushed again and pointed to her leg, still firmly in the grasp of his tail. Noticing this, he blushed a little himself, but made no effort to change the situation, or to correct his rebellious tail, instead shifting to make things more comfortable for them both.

While this contact would have normally made them both feel at least mildly embarrassed, Kaen just seemed to bask in her presence, looking a lot less concerned now than he was before. Seeing this, Pi just smiled and nestled her head against his chest, and before too long, the ship they had spent several weeks travelling on began planet-fall.

Viola smiled a little at the display, unknowingly letting Flute hear her think, _"Aww, that's cute..."_

Flute glanced back at them, knowing the gravity of the situation full well, before answering simply, _"There's no denying that they are meant for each other."_

She jumped a little, not realising she'd said that telepathically, before replying, _"It sure looks like true love from where I'm sitting."_

_"Let's hope they live long enough to appreciate it..."_ He said gravely, before severing the link suddenly to turn his attention back to the controls, as the ship touched the surface of the planet. Viola looked a little concerned at this, both what he said and how he said it, before forcing the look from her face, if only for her companions' sake. After sharing a look with Flute, coming to a silent agreement with him, the two exited the ship, surveying the area, and allowing the two Saiyans a moment alone.

Kaen enjoyed another moment where he was, imprinting her scent, the feeling of her, everything, to his mind, before willing himself to release her, however much he wanted her to stay exactly where she was. Pi seemed to agree, letting herself be removed from his grasp a little resentfully, but standing none-the-less. He sighed wistfully as she got up, before standing himself, mentally steeling himself for what lay ahead.

Flute glanced back at Kaen as he exited, motioning him to move forward with him, Sparing Pi one last wistful glance, he took Flute's lead. The Namek kept his voice down as he asked, "Would he be able to sense us?"

His voice equally as low, Kaen replied, "Unlikely, few species I've had run-ins with can, but, being a member of Frieza's army, chances are he'll have a scouter, or something like. We'd be best to tread cautiously, and not show our true strength, until he shows his ugly face. This is assuming it is who I think it is."

With a look almost bordering on amusement, and very odd considering the circumstances, Flute asked, "Gaining grudges is a simple matter for you. Would this be a particular favourite?"

Despite the gravity of the circumstances, Kaen found himself struggling not to smirk as he said, "Let's say we've got a bit of history that goes way back, and I took something precious to him."

Realising who he meant, Flute responded, "A right arm, if I remember your tale correctly."

The smirk broke its way through, and he said, "That, and his pride."

The time for humour seemingly over, Flute returned to his stoic self, saying, "Well, let's move out. If we can avoid him I think our trip will be better for it." Kaen's smirk faded back into his serious expression, and he nodded solemnly. Flute turned back to the two females currently giving them some space, saying in a voice just loud enough to be heard, "We'll continue on foot to the dragon ball. No need to attract too much attention."

As the group headed off, Kaen switched on his scouter, monitoring all transmissions, and constantly flicking between ki, electrical, and dragon ball detection modes. His senses were on high alert, even more so than usual, to a point that it scared even him, as he watched everything in a paranoid fashion. Pi fell into step behind him, watching him with a careful eye, and Viola walking in Flute's footsteps much like Pi was Kaen's, found herself worrying more as she saw him acting like this.

All of a sudden, Flute spun around to face them, shouting, "Something has the dragon ball, and they're moving fast!"

Cursing to himself, Kaen spun, facing the direction he knew he'd come from. His scouter had picked him up just as Flute's cry reached his ears. And there, before his eyes, materialised the face in his nightmares, his cybernetic right arm holding the dragon ball. His face was hidden by a dark cloak, but a smirk was clearly visible as he taunted, "Looking for this?"

Kaen started growling, his tail lashing behind him under his coat, his anger at this man's, this cyborg's, presence more than obvious. Pi, however, looked a little bewildered, as she said, "I know that voice..."

Kaen's head shot in her direction, his face full of shock as he cried, "You've met this bastard?"

Still unsure what he meant, she replied, "He was the one who compelled me to come find you."

His growl came back, more prominent than before, as he glared back at the cloaked figure again, barking out, "Couldn't leave her out of it could you?"

His smirk was evident. "She was a very capable individual, and possessed a drive to find you like none other. What can I say, she was a perfect tool." his cloaked voice declared.

Pi was filled with anger at the fact that she'd been used, but Kaen had gone beyond the stage of anger long ago. One could literally see the fire in his eyes as he snarled, "You won't have her. So long as I draw breath I will fight you."

The cloaked figure tossed the dragon ball aside, saying, "It's almost a shame you managed to recover the last one of those I found. I spent a lot of time planting that. I thought for sure those robots would be your undoing monkey. But once again you surprised me with your resourcefulness. Oh well, at least this way I get the hands on touch. You've run long enough. I am going to finish what I started, and then I'm going to make your little girlfriend watch as I cut you to pieces."

Kaen shed his coat in a flash, growling, "Not today shit-eater. You can make all the threats you like, but I promise you you'll be dead before the sun sets today."

Pi's face set into a mask of determination to correct her error. She had lead the person who had almost killed her soul mate years before back to him, and she would not let it happen. "If I knew who you were I would have killed you back then!" she shouted angrily, before arcing her arms over her head, balling her fists and slamming them into the ground with a cry of, "Terra Fury!"

The force of the attack caused the cloaked figure to trip and fall, and taking full advantage over his prone situation, she cupped her hands to form another attack, crying "Titan Cannon!" as she launched her devastating attack, striking him head on, and causing a great deal of damage. Or so she thought

Despite the sheer power of her attacks, the cyborg seemed to shrug them off like they'd been nothing. Laughing at her pitiful attempts to hurt him, he declared, "You'll have your turn to die soon enough!"

Hearing this, Kaen roared in defiance, his Rage Pyre aura bursting to life at full power, but the cyborg shouted, "I'll have none of this!" sending a whip-like attack directly at him, the bands of ki wrapping themselves around the Saiyans torso and neck, literally stealing the flame from him as soon as it burst to life, and granting the cyborg the power Rage Pyre yielded.

Seeing Kaen restrained behind the bonds of ki, the Namek duo shot forward, launching attacks of their own, if only to distract the cloaked man from his target, but their attempt to attack was disrupted as he showered them with weak ki blasts, nothing more than a means to keep them at bay. They did however distract him long enough for Kaen to shatter the bonds around him with another roar of defiance.

Growing impatient, the cloaked figure stands tall, suddenly igniting with black flame, a dark shadow of the Rage Pyre stolen from his Saiyan foe, as he shouted, "Play time is over! You are through running from me! It's time to meet your fate monkey!" Saying this, he held a single palm towards the Saiyan male, crying triumphantly, "Vorpal Striker!" as a blast of pure darkness fired from his hand.

Kaen could only stare in horror as the blast drew nearer. The effort of shedding the chains of ki had left him too drained to dodge, to say nothing of having his strength stolen from him by the same attack. Time itself seemed to slow down as the blast headed ever closer, appearing as though it would blast his head clear off, and Kaen just closed his eyes, willing himself to die with the dignity a Saiyan demanded. But fate, it seemed, had not deemed him to die this day, as he heard the sound of impact, but felt no contact.

His eyes shot open again in shock, but as he took in the sight before him, he found himself wishing he hadn't. A slight whimper could be heard in the silence that followed, as Pi, the hallmarks of having blocked the blast on her back, braced herself against the overwhelming pain. Eventually, it became too much, the attack meant to have a single, total effect: death. He caught her as she fell to her knees, clutching her chest as she felt her strength leave her. She looked up at him, eyes filled with tears she'd never live long enough to shed, and with strength she shouldn't have had, she smiled at him one last time, whispering, "I love you Kaen," one final time. As her final breath left her, her eyes closed, the traces of tears still around their edges, and she knew no more as she died in his arms.

Kaen stared in shock as he held the lifeless form in his arms, tears unknowingly slipping from his eyes, as he whispered, "No..." He felt empty, dead; he felt like his heart had been ripped in two, and like his soul had died. As he knelt there, cradling the deceased girl in his arms, he realised, all too late, how much she truly meant to him. He had always known, somewhere inside, that she was his mate, but when all of this had happened, stemming from the bastard in the cloak, he had tried to distance himself from her; a man who has nothing to lose has everything to gain.

He realised now that he would rather have had her for just a heart beat than never at all. But it was too late. She was gone. He would give his life to have her back. With a heart-wrenching cry, one enough to cause the most emotionless of being to cry in sympathy, he wailed, "NO!"

And then he heard it. Laughter. Someone was laughing at his pain. No, not just someone. It was _him_. That bastard, the man who'd taken so much from him, had the nerve to not only rob him of his soul mate, but to _laugh_ at it! He would pay for this! He would pay with his blood, even if it took Kaen's dying breath to do it! He vowed, on Pi's death, he would avenge her, and everyone else this bastard had killed, if it was the last thing he ever did!

He laughed, a deep, maniacal laugh. His attack had hit a stronger nerve than he'd thought possible. He'd never have guessed the monkey liked this girl this much. Ah well, he was gonna kill him anyway. At least this way he could make the pest suffer before he died. For now, all he could do was laugh.

He could feel the rage building, could feel his power rising. His eyes opened to take into his foe, his hands clenched hard enough for his fingernails to draw blood. His voice full of anger, he growled, "You took her from me... You had no right to take her from me!"

His laughter died in his throat as he watched the heartbroken monkey. It wasn't the glare that did it, nor was it what he said; it was his power. It had long since gone past his own maximum, even with his stolen power-up. And it just kept going. His last thought before the fear overcame his mind was, 'Shit... look's like I pressed the wrong button this time...'

As his power reached levels unheard of to date, and kept going, his mind was focused on but one thing. In his rage, he failed to notice his newfound strength, the strength that kept rising. All he knew was the bastard standing not five metres from him had killed Pi; until he was dead, nothing else mattered. His blood was on fire, his rage reaching dangerous levels.

His body struggled to keep up with his anger. His eyes, flickering between their normal black and a cold teal, stared at his foe, their dead, emotionless gaze boring right into his soul. His hair, switching between his normal black, and a fiery, ethereal gold, raged violently in the wind kicked up by his aura, also an ethereal gold. And as he screamed, one final, pain-filled scream, "You took her from me! AND I WILL HAVE HER BACK!" his rage exploded in a blinding gold flash, his body settling into his new form, the form born from his rage.

When the light died down, those assembled could see the new Kaen, his golden hair blowing in the wind, his cold gaze watching the fallen body of his soul mate, tears forming in his emotionless eyes. But all too soon, for the cyborg's liking, he turned an icy glare on the cloaked being, his tears evaporated by the raging golden aura around him.

As his eyes swept past the Nameks, they saw only one thing in his eyes: death. There was nothing he wouldn't do to see that cloaked figure dead. Even though his rage wasn't directed at them, when they had seen into his eyes, they had frozen in fear. Using what little wits the enraged Saiyan's glare had left him with, Flute used his ki to collect the dragon ball. Stuffing it into his robes, he grabbed Viola around the waist, and quickly moved the two of them to a safe distance.

His voice was cold, devoid of all emotion bar hatred and loathing, as he said, "You took her from me. You robbed her of life before her time. And for that you must pay the ultimate price. There will be no final judgement. Neither heaven nor hell. No chance for redemption. There is only annihilation."

He waited just long enough for his words to sink in before he attacked, charging his foe, and preparing his attack, his revenge. In his subconscious, he knew the ramifications of doing what he was. This attack was made of pure balefire; uncontained, it had limitless destructive power, and there was no force anywhere in the universe that could undo it's damage. Balefire didn't just attack the physical body, it also destroyed the mind and soul, forever. What's more, it didn't attack in the present; it destroyed the victim in the past, undoing all actions carried out after that point, and putting them beyond the effects of almost every revival technique. And it was just what he needed.

He'd tried this before, when he was younger, and it almost destroyed him. His body and soul weren't strong enough to handle the strain. He had since managed to wield a more focused, concentrated form of balefire safely, as his disks proved. However, in this new form, born purely from rage, he had all the power he would ever need. And he planned on making it count.

All this passed through his subconscious in a moment, but none of it registered to his rage-fogged mind. All it needed to know, as it streaked towards the fear-paralysed cyborg, was it would bring about the death of said cyborg, forever. To the world around him, all that could be seen of Kaen was a golden streak, the light from his aura, with a single stripe of white, a stark contrast to the golden flame, from the balefire coursing around his drawn-back right hand. To the cloaked cyborg, time seemed to slow down, until it almost stood still, and yet he still couldn't see the approach of the avatar of his destruction.

Kaen stopped dead in front of the cloaked figure, his speed causing a sonic boom, one which drowned out his cry of "BALEFIRE FIST!" as his right hand struck home, landing squarely in the cyborg's ribs. Within less than a second his cloaked body became shrouded in raging white flame, burning him from existence, but Kaen didn't stop there. He just kept pouring his ki into the attack, the pyre increasing to frightening size.

The cloaked cyborg may have screamed, as the pain from his very essence being torn from the fabric of reality assailed him, but it was impossible to tell; the sonic boom drowned out all other noise. By the time it had faded, the chance for screaming had gone, and any he may have made were long since scattered to the wind. Suddenly, the flames were gone, and the cloaked figure with it. Not even ashes remained, already having been long since scattered to the wind due to the effects of the balefire.

Only then, as they saw the charred ground, a deep gash in it where the flames had once burned, did the echoes of the attack's name reach there ears, but now Kaen stood there alone, his fist still extended. As the sound ebbed, he fell to his knees, the pain of Pi's death finally catching up with him now that the rage had faded, and he wept openly, mourning her loss. In his heart-broken state, he failed to remember the side effects of his attack, and that because of them, he mourned in vain.

Not ten metres away, Pi began too look around oddly, as if she'd lost something. She was utterly confused; hadn't she been killed? If she had, what was she doing back here? Suddenly, she noticed Kaen, or what appeared to be Kaen, drawn by the sounds of his crying, and she knelt next to him, asking softly, "Kaen, is that you?"

Hearing her voice, and wondering if he's dreaming, he turns slowly to face her. The moment he saw her face, he instantly latched onto her, his tail, which looked odd with golden fur, wrapping itself firmly around her, as he continued crying, the words, "You're okay..." occasionally being understood from the unintelligible rambling of the distraught Saiyan.

She began to mutter back, offering comfort all the while, "I was in this strange place with all these spirits and these weird ogre things. I was standing in line or something, and then I was here again... And why are you blonde?"

The pain of losing her finally starting to ebb, his sobs subsided, but his grip didn't loosen. His voice cracked from crying, he whispered, "It doesn't matter. All that matters is you're okay..." Truth be told, he was a little confused at her saying he was blonde, but was too broken up to think heavily on it.

Returning with Viola still in his grasp, Flute looked them both over with a slight look of disbelief on his face. First at Pi, the main, if not only, reason being her being alive and seemingly well, then at Kaen, his new appearance and shocking power the main reason there.

Managing to calm his soul somewhat, he turned to regard the others for a moment, still not letting go, before turning back to Pi, giving her his full attention, a true smile on his face.

She smiled back before returning the hug. While she enjoyed the embrace, it was also the easiest way for her to better examine his golden tail.

After a moment spent simply basking in each other's company, he whispered in her ear, his voice filled with emotions he would have never shared before, "I thought I'd lost you..."

Her first thought had been, 'For a minute there you had,' but she realised that wouldn't help, so she responded in kind, "I didn't want you to get hurt."

"You know I'd gladly give me life to keep you safe..."

"I spent so much time looking for you, I didn't want to lose you again."

Again, the thought, 'For a minute there you had,' came, this time in Kaen's mind, but instead, he drew himself back, staring deeply into her eyes, his gaze showing more love in the three seconds of silence than he ever had in the nineteen years thus far, as he vowed, "I swear to you, on my life, that I will do everything in my power to see you never do..."

The Nameks watched on, the emotions think in the air causing their silence, and both seemed to forget that Flute's arms were still around Viola's waist protectively.

Pi blushed deeply at Kaen's words before kissing him, and he wasted no time in responding, letting this one kiss show her how much she meant to him. He was so caught up in the moment, he failed to realise that he wasn't blushing. She broke the kiss softly, a loving smile on her face, before taking his hair in her hands to examine it herself.

He smiled back, taking a moment to notice the golden locks she held, now looking like _real_ flame, and his face failed to hide the shock. Letting them go, she began to stroke his tail a little, examining it closer. This time, he did blush, but nowhere near as much as he would have the day before. Fighting the rising feelings, he managed to say, "I guess whatever caused my power jump changed me a bit..."

Seeing that the tender moment had passed, Flute spoke up, saying, "More like power explosion."

With his arms around her, he managed to shrug, replying, "I don't really remember what happened after..." he trailed off.

Raising an eyebrow, Flute asked, "After what?"

The Saiyan just glared at him, barking, "Guess!" Flute just nodded. He had the answer he needed. Calming himself, and looking a little confused, he looked between the Nameks, noticing their position and filing it away for a more appropriate time, before asking, "Don't 'spose you guys can tell me what happened?"

Noticing Viola was remaining fairly silent, Flute answered, "You were angered to say the least, and then you transformed..."

Suddenly noticing something, Viola gasped, "Your eyes!"

Pi nodded, noticing it as well, and exclaiming, "They're green!"

Kaen just sighed, "This is a weird day..."

Flute just nodded, a semi-amused smirk crossing his features for a moment, before saying, "Indeed."

After sharing a look with the girl in his arms, Kaen sighed again, saying, "At least the worst is over with."

Pi nodded, her face showing her exhaustion, before she smiled again, this one showing amusement, as she said, "You look funny as a blonde. If Oran and Lime saw you they'd be in fits. Like the time you had to wear that dress after one of your flame attacks back-fired and you lost your clothes."

Flute smirked considerably at the thought, and Viola fought to keep from bursting out laughing. After all, he was much more powerful than either of them could ever be, and after the display he put on before, she didn't need him directing any anger at her.

However, Kaen found himself unable to do so much as glare at her for bringing up that insulting time, the day's events seemingly overwriting his pride, at least for now. Instead, he simply smiled back at her, saying, "You're right. They'd find it hilarious." Fortunately, she missed the pain on his face as she mentioned them, and the wistfulness in his voice; he still missed the little terrors... Banishing such negative thoughts from his mind, he turned to face the Nameks, a smirk filling his face, as he said teasingly, "Are you sure nothing else happened today?"

With a raised eyebrow, Flute replied, "You killed someone who had a vendetta against you, and we recovered a dragon ball. I can think of nothing else that has happened. Now, I think it would be wise to head back to the Icebreaker before Frost does something stupid, like leave without us."

The smirk didn't falter as he said, "Sure thing, I was just curious, is all. After all, you two look mighty close. I'm glad you've finally reached stage four." As he said this, he indicated Flute's arms with his head, which were still around the Namekin's waist even now.

Pi started giggling as she noticed. Viola, after looking confused for a moment finally registered the arms around her, and started blushing like mad. Flute realised not a second later, and his hands shot away so fast you'd swear they were burnt. His face became set in stone, hiding anything resembling emotion, but the embarrassment was clearly evident in his eyes.

Kaen started laughing, getting out, "Guess I was wrong, you're only in stage two. Three at best."

Flute arched a brow, asking, "What the hell are you talking about?"

The smirk returned as he replied, "The four stages of a budding relationship. Humour. Denial. Consideration. Acceptance."

Viola's face just kept getting darker and darker shades of green as the conversation went on, her blush deepening by the moment, but the embarrassment kept her from talking, even to defend herself; regardless of how pointless it would have been to do so anyway.

Flute just closed his eyes, his frown deepening as he said, "I have never heard such nonsense ever before."

Finally standing, Pi still firmly in his grasp as they stood together, Kaen replied, "It's quite obvious to one who's been through it before, such as Pi and myself. You're in stage two, but, judging by her lack of reaction thus far, Viola seems to be in stage three." His smirk widened as her blush deepened again, reaching levels no normal person, Namek or no, should ever be able to reach.

Flute said no more, simply turning on his heel and heading back to the ship.

With a satisfied look on his face, Kaen turned to the girl in his arms, saying matter-of-factly, "See? Common denial." She simply nodded and hugged him as they headed back to the ship, playing with his blonde tail again, the pair closer now than they'd ever been before.

It wasn't until several moments later that Viola recovered from her embarrassment, and realising that she was now alone, she hurried back to the ship, managing to make it back before the Saiyan pair thanks to her speed.

As they entered the ship, noticing the Nameks pointedly avoiding making eye contact with both them and each other, they sat down to leave in much the same fashion they had to come, Pi in Kaen's lap, his tail firmly around her leg. And as the ship blasted off the planet, the last of his anger-fuelled tension faded away, and the exhaustion of holding his new form caught up with him. He fell asleep in the chair, his hair and tail returning to their normal colour, and while she couldn't see it, Pi assumed his eyes did so as well.

Sighing contentedly, she nestled her head against his chest, much like she'd done on the way down, and allowed her own exhaustion to drag her into the land of nod herself. It had been a long, eventful day. The horror that haunted Kaen's past was finally laid to rest, his team, their friends, had been avenged, they had recovered the next dragon ball, she'd seemingly been revived from death, and, most importantly of all in her mind, she and Kaen had finally reached the penultimate step in their relationship; soon, very soon, it would be time for them to take the final step.

End Chapter 09

To be continued...


	11. A Romantic Interlude

A/N: As much as I dislike Authors' Notes before the start of a chapter, I feel I have to say this now. Unlike the chapters before it, nothing in this chapter has been role-played in any form. All content herein is my interpretation of what occurred during downtime. (for those not in the know, downtime is time that passes in story between sessions, and thus, for this story, between chapters) This is the first of two such chapters in this story. Okay, now that that's cleared up, on with the show.

--- The Phoenix Chronicles ---

Chapter 09.5 - A Romantic Interlude

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She ran her hand through his hair, a smile on her face as she watched him sleep. The ship had docked aboard the Icebreaker hours ago; Flute had already gone to start searching for the next ball. Viola had left too, but she seemed to be staying as far away from him as she could manage, obviously still highly embarrassed about Kaen's remarks while they were on world.

She would have left hours ago too, but she wasn't going to leave him behind, and he looked too cute as he slept peacefully to wake him. So she just spent the time enjoying her position, his arms around her as she sat across his lap, her head against his chest. That new form he'd taken was obviously exhausting to hold, because in all the time she could remember, he'd only ever slept this long when he'd worked himself to the point of passing out.

She ran the day's events over again in her head. First, she found out the guy who'd helped her track Kaen down was the same person who'd tried to kill him, and she'd lead him right back. Second, she'd been killed protecting Kaen. She had no regrets, neither then nor now; she loved him, pure and simple, and if given a thousand chances she'd do it again every time, no question. Finally, she'd been brought back, somehow, when Kaen killed him, though how she had no idea.

She knew he didn't have the power to bring people back from the dead; no one did, it was impossible. Besides, it wasn't his style, and from what she saw of him, he'd been too broken up emotionally to do anything. She knew, from what Viola had told her, that he had used some powerful technique, one that had killed the guy with one hit. Somehow, that attack must have brought her back, but that much was obvious; the how still eluded her.

Her musings were cut short when he began to stir, awake at last. It wasn't that she was in a hurry to move - far from it, she quite enjoyed being held by him - but there were better places to have it happen than onboard a drop ship.

When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was her face, smiling up at him. She looked like she was about to say something, but before she could he leaned down, kissing her for a moment, and when he pulled back, she seemed to be glowing.

She giggled, "Well hello to you too, I see you're finally awake. You've been out for hours now."

Looking around for a moment, he asked, "Where are we?"

"We're still on Flute's ship. You were out of it when we docked, and you looked too cute to wake up," she chirped.

He smiled down at her, saying, "You waited here for me all this time?"

She smirked a little, indicating his arms and replying, "I didn't have much choice. Even asleep you've got a strong grip." His face fell a bit, and she giggled again, poking him on the nose and saying, "Silly, I was just joking. You know that if I didn't want to be here I wouldn't, strong grip or not."

He seemed to visibly relax, as he playfully bit at her finger. The battle-hardened mercenary warrior that Kaen was before was gone, at least for now, revealing the boy she'd fallen for, hiding underneath. He smiled again and said, "I know. Still, you could have woken me you know, instead of waiting for me to wake up on my own."

She nodded, replying, "Yeah, I know, but I like being like this. Having you hold me makes me feel safe, like nothing can hurt me."

She noticed that his face fell as she said that, but before she could comment on it he spoke up again, his voice sounding nervous, "Pi, there's... something I want to tell you, but I don't want to say it here... Do you want to go somewhere a little... more private?"

She shook her head stubbornly, acting like her old self, ironically her young self, as she pouted a bit, "Nuh-uh. You said you wanted to tell me something, and I'm not getting up until you do."

He sighed, "Fine, have it your way..."

Pi smiled to herself, a satisfied smile. She had a fairly good idea what he wanted to say, or at least she thought, hoped, she did anyway. She wasn't expecting what came next though. He picked her up, holding her delicately in his arms, as he stood and walked off the ship.

"Hey, no fair!" she exclaimed, holding on to his neck with both arms as though he would drop her if she didn't.

He smirked at her, saying, "What, I thought you said you liked me holding you? Plus you said you weren't going to get up until I told you, and I wasn't going to tell you in there, so this fixes both problems."

She pouted again, huffing, "Fine," but it was obvious to both of them she was putting it on. Inside she was glowing. She must have been right about what he wanted to say; why else would be want to go somewhere private, and not take no for an answer?

He walked on automatic, simply enjoying the feel of her in his arms. So engrossed was he in the feeling, he failed to notice that, out of all the places on the ship they could be alone, he had gone to his own room, or that he had closed the door behind him as he walked in. None of it mattered, all the mattered was her.

She noticed though, and it made her feel all giddy inside. She was right; there was no doubt in her mind. As he sat down on the edge of the bed, shifting his arms to hold her as he had on the drop ship, she gathered her courage and asked, her voice barely louder than a whisper, "Kaen, what did you want to tell me?"

He just held her close for a moment, using one hand to stroke her hair lightly, before whispering back, in their native language, **"So much... So much that it hurts... So much that I don't know where to start..."**

She just hugged him back, saying, **"Just follow your heart, and start where it tells you."**

A moment passed in comfortable silence before he said, in a voice that sounded like he was having trouble resisting the urge to cry, **"I'm sorry Pi. I've been an idiot. I'm so sorry."**

She was now utterly confused; those were not the first words she expected to hear from him. Heck, she never expected to hear those words from him if they lived over a hundred years. Her voice comforting, she asked, **"Sorry for what?"**

He sighed, once again sounding like he was trying not to cry, before saying, **"Everything. I'm sorry I had to leave you to go on that mission. I'm sorry I didn't come home like I promised. I'm sorry I made you leave home yourself, and spend twelve months of your life travelling halfway across the galaxy to find me. And most of all, I'm sorry I've been so distant ever since you caught up."**

She hugged him tighter, whispering soothingly, **"It's not your fault you had to go on that mission, it was the king's orders. It's not your fault you couldn't come home either; it was that bastard's. And you didn't make me come searching for you, I did that myself, so that's not your fault either. Plus, after having to run for your life for twelve months I don't blame you for being a little distant. It's okay, I understand."**

He sighed again, **"That's just it, you don't understand. I wasn't being distant because we'd spent so much time apart; we basically fell back into old habits the second I recognized you. I was being distant because... I didn't want you in my life at the time..."**

He continued before those words could sink in, knowing they'd hurt her if he didn't explain, **"What I mean is, as you said, I was running for my life. Every day I could be killed, but I was okay with that; if I died it would just make true what everyone already thought. But having you around changed that. It gave me something to lose. As I always told myself, a man who has nothing to lose has everything to gain."**

**"I was trying to keep myself distant because I feared that having something to lose would take away the only edge I had; no fear. But the more time I spent with you, the harder it became to fight, until I was right back where I started from before leaving home; you became such an important part of my life I didn't know what I'd do without you. Today I found out..."** he trailed off as his voice cracked, and a few tears slipped past his defences

She pulled back just enough to kiss him, the contact comforting them both. When she broke this kiss moments later, she smiled at him and said, **"It's all right. I'm okay now, and I'm not going anywhere."**

He smiled back shakily, not used to displaying emotions this openly, before saying, **"I know you're okay now, all my senses are screaming it at me. But that doesn't make the pain of seeing you die lessen any..."**

She just held him close again, unsure of any words she could say to comfort him, but her just being there helping him immensely. He spoke between choked back sobs, refusing to cry any more; she was no longer dead after all. **"I can still see you lying there when I close my eyes. I can still hear the blast hitting you, and the last words you said, when all else is silent. But worst of all, I can still feel my heart being ripped in two, and my soul dying, as I saw the life fade from your eyes, even now, with you in my arms..."**

She pulled back, locking eyes with him, a few tears of her own slipping down her face, as she whispered, **"I wish I could take all your pain away. I wish I could make it all better, but I can't. All I can do is be here for you."**

He smiled at her lovingly, using one hand to wipe away her tears, as he whispered back, **"That's all I need. And don't worry about my pain; it's my cross to bear..."**

Confused again, she asked, **"What do you mean 'your cross to bear'?"**

He sighed, **"It's what I get for not telling you the truth sooner. I knew he was going to be there, waiting for me. It was like that every three months; he'd show up where ever I was, and we'd fight again. I should have told you, and asked you to stay on the ship..."**

She laughed softly, a few tears still on her face, as she said, **"You know it wouldn't have stopped me coming, no matter how much you asked. If anything, it only would have made me want to come more."**

Kaen laughed a little himself, saying, **"Yeah, you always were as stubborn as me..."** His face turned mildly sad again as he continued, **"I should have also told you how I truly felt sooner... I think that's what hurts the most, that you died without me ever telling you how much you mean to me..."**

She started to protest, but he silenced her with a smile and a finger over her lips, saying, **"I know you know, but it's not the same as hearing it confirmed. You've told me so many times that you love me, and every time you did, I wanted to say it back, to open my heart to you, but my stupid pride kept getting in the way. By the time it let me say what I wanted to say, it was too late..."**

He paused, gazing into her eyes and smiling again before continuing, **"But you came back. You gave me another chance. I know that in our lives, second chances don't come around often, and I'm not going to let my pride stop me this time. If today did nothing else, it showed me that life is too short to have regrets, and I've regretted shielding myself from you for too long..."**

He paused again, kissing her deeply, before whispering passionately, **"You mean more to me than life itself. Words alone can never hope to express the depths of my love for you. My heart already belongs to you, and tonight, I offer you my body, my mind, and my soul, if you'll have me..."**

Her heart, which had already started soaring at his declaration of love, began pounding almost painfully in her ears at both what he said, and how vulnerable he looked as he said it. She reached up, kissing him just as deeply as he had her, both to reassure him and to calm her own nerves, before whispering back, in a voice no less passionate than his, **"Kaen, I love you with every fibre of my being, pride and all. I've always loved you. And I would have waited forever for you to say those words."**

He smirked a little, running his hand gently along her tail, before saying semi-teasingly, **"You've been waiting huh? You know I've never been able to deny you anything you wanted. All you had to do was ask..."**

A light moan escaping her lips, she suddenly found their current position not quite good enough, moving until she was straddling him, kissing him passionately before whispering, her voice husky, **"Well, I'm asking."**

Her statement seemed to ignite a fire in both of them, and they began kissing again. This time, it wasn't to reassure, it wasn't to support, it was a show of passion, and like most things the two did, it soon became a fight for dominance. Before long, they realised that their armour was too confining, and thus, it had to go. Without a word spoken between the two, they broke away as one, shedding the armour and tossing it to the side, before they resumed where they'd left off, this time with just the skin-tight body suits separating them.

Soon, even that was too much, and the rest of their clothing joined the armour on the floor. As skin touches skin, their instincts take over, and they move to a beat only they can hear, doing a dance as old as time itself. As they reach their zenith as one, on instinct alone they bite into the nape of each other's neck, tasting the metallic tang of their blood as they forever mark each other as theirs. The last thing they each see before everything goes black is each other's smiling face, the words, **"I love you,"** spoken as one.

As their bodies rest, the memories of each other's lives flash before their eyes, most too fast to make out clearly, except for a few key events, which, to both their pleasant surprise, they share. Their first meeting. Their first kiss. Their separation. Their reunion. And finally, their first time.

As consciousness returns to them, they can instantly feel the effects of their now-completed bond. They can hear each other's thoughts, can communicate without opening their mouths, and can feel what's in each other's hearts. As the feeling registers in their minds, they can see in each other's eyes that they each want more. Their bodies soon catch up, and the dance resumes, continuing long into the night.

But all good things must come to an end. Eventually their strength leaves them, the stress of the day catching up with them, and they fall asleep in each other's arms. Using the last of his energy, Kaen, with Pi still in his arms, moves the two of them under the covers. Watching her sleep, he whispers one final thing into her ear, before sleep claims him too, **"Sleep well koibito. I promise you, on my love for you, that I will protect you."**

End Chapter 09.5

To be continued...


	12. A Moment of Rest part 1

--- The Phoenix Chronicles ---

Chapter 10 - A Moment of Rest, Part 1 - The Morning After

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The wind swept across the broken face of a once vibrant planet, whipping between the ruins of once majestic towers. The sound of it echoed across the otherwise eerily silent landscape, as it picked up dust, much of which was once part of a greater whole, to begin the painstakingly slow process of eroding away the many scars of battle, some more recent than others.

Bodies littered the ground, some whole, and some not, the once inhabitants of the planet making up the most of them, but a good number of them were aliens, offworlders, the invaders that had destroyed the once beautiful cities, and equally beautiful countryside. A lesser number again was made up of offworlders of a single race, a race of warriors that laughed at Death; but Death, it seems, had the last laugh. And yet, in a wasteland where death and destruction reigned supreme, there was still one that dared defy its rule.

It started small, just a tiny shake of the dirt. If you didn't know where to look you'd miss it; maybe even then. Soon, it became more aggressive, more frantic, as the dirt, rocks and rubble began to shake. In a sudden burst of energy, a hand shot out from amongst the rubble. The hand was dirty, bloodied, and had obviously seen better days, but was alive none-the-less. Before too long it was joined by it's twin, it's condition no better than the first, and together they began the arduous task of pulling their shared body out from under the wreckage, piece by painful piece.

First came the head, as blood and filth encrusted as the hands, covered in bruises, scrapes, still-bleeding wounds, and other assorted damage; atop it a mass of once black hair, now almost more blood, sweat, and grime than actual hair. At this point the being, obviously male, paused, spending several moments filling his lungs with precious oxygen hither-to deprived from him. After catching his breath, and coughing up more blood and dirt, he continued.

Next came the torso, as broken as those that appeared before it, if not more so, the remains of once commanding armour clinging to his form. The shoulder pads had long since been broken off, the man's shoulders themselves being damaged at the same time. There were cracks in some places, holes in others, and in both cases, were it not for the dirt one would see the damage mirrored on the body beneath, most, if not all holes, burnt straight through the once royal blue body suit to the flesh under it.

After another moment spent gathering energy the lower body emerged, clad only in equal parts dirt, blood, and the tattered remains of the afore-mentioned royal blue body suit, and following it, the legs, each donning the broken remains of a boot over the foot. With a final monumental effort he flipped over onto his back, the last of his energy gathered thus far spent, and the man, the Saiyan known as Kaen, rested a moment more, free at last from his earthy would-be grave.

He picked himself up slowly, painfully; he couldn't afford to rest any longer. He looked around warily for anything even resembling a threat, but his vision was cloudy, he had lost a lot of blood, and without his scouter, either buried under the rubble he'd just crawled out of, or destroyed during the fight, he had no way of knowing where the dangers lay until it was too late; but none of that mattered now, all that mattered was that he was still alive. However, if he didn't move fast, he wouldn't be for much longer.

He took a single, shaky step, then another, and with a sharp hiss escaping his bleeding lips, he realised his left leg was fractured, or possibly broken; he didn't know how that fact escaped him until now, but he blamed his massive blood loss. That and his extensive head injuries. Shaking his head slightly, and quickly realising how bad an idea that had been as black spots began dancing in his swirling vision, he cleared his conscious mind of all thoughts outside of escape, step by bone-jarringly painful step.

While his conscious mind focused on movement, his subconscious, unbidden, started running through a list of his injuries. First, obviously, his left leg was either broken or fractured, but for now he couldn't tell whether it was his upper leg or lower; everywhere hurt, so trying to find a specific wound was pointless. Next, his ribs felt cracked, fractured or broken, and a couple of them were pressing against his lungs painfully, or maybe just one; again, it was hard to tell exactly.

Judging from the blood, and the massive headache, his skull was also damaged somewhere, but it retained it's structural integrity, so that could wait. He had too many lesions to even bother trying to count; the energy could be better spent elsewhere. As another sharp hiss of pain escaped him, this time as he tried to lean on something with his right arm, he realised that, it too, was either fractured or broken, and his mind reeled in wonder as he realised he had used it more than his left in his escape, though he had no idea how.

Even several of the bones in his tail felt cracked, fractured or broken, as it hung limply behind him, and he realised all too clearly that if he didn't receive medical treatment before too long, Saiyan healing factor or no, he would die. For now, though, pain was more than welcome; it was his best friend. So long as he felt pain he was alive, and so long as his body hurt it could be saved.

Instinctually, he walked, or, more accurately, trudged, in the direction of the ships, knowing that they were his only chance, and hoping, praying, both that those who ambushed him hadn't destroyed them before the fight, and that their only survivor hadn't after. His logical mind told him his prayers weren't needed - if they'd destroyed them before they would have shown up on the scouters, and the other guy was just as worn out as he, and only had one arm to boot - but he continued to pray anyway, as he continued his painfully slow trek, fuelled by hope, willpower, and determination.

His heart soared as he saw that, indeed, his mind had been right, as he saw all ten pods still just as they'd left them, the most important being his own. In the week before deployment he had spent some time with his father finding out everything the ship could do, and he knew that it had medical equipment that could, at the very least, stabilise him until he could reach somewhere else.

He found himself praising every deity he'd ever heard of when he found his ship's remote still where he'd placed it, in his right boot, and still in perfectly working order at that. Wasting no time, he climbed into the ship with as much speed as he could muster, the chance that people could still be looking for him hitting him hard now that he was so close to escape. Deciding that leaving the planet was more important than having himself healed, so he set his ship to take off, but as a thought hit him, he stopped the ship in mid air.

If there were people looking for survivors, one of the first places they'd look would be the only means of escape, the ships, and if they found a ship missing they'd know instantly that someone survived. Opening the hatch of the now hovering ship, he leaned out a little, and gathered as much energy as he could into his unbroken left hand. Hoping, praying, that it was enough, and that it was on target, he launched it towards the remaining ships, letting out his held breath as he heard it's explosion trigger another, and another, until nine explosions had sounded after the first, signalling the destruction of the other ships.

He sat back inside the ship, although fell might be a more accurate word, closing the hatch as he did so, as his strength started leaving him. He knew that it wouldn't be long before he passed out, either from lack of energy, lack of blood, or simply excess amounts of pain; probably a combination of the three. With the last of his strength he set the ship to take off, trusting the autopilot to plot the course he lacked the strength to do, and beginning the ships medical machinery. And as the darkness took him into a deep slumber, one filled with dark, nightmarish images he'd rather forget, one final thought ran through his head.

'They will rue the day they crossed me. Mark my words, I will make them suffer!'

o-o-o

It was the dawning of a new day aboard the Icebreaker, although days are relative for those who travel through the vastness of space. Never the less, the new day dawned, and it's metaphoric rays shone on the sleeping Saiyan couple, whose night was just as, if not more, busy than their day, as they finally committed themselves to a ritual as old as the Saiyan race itself.

But while they slept, life went on throughout the rest of the ship, filled with an air of confidence. The fourth dragon ball had been recovered, and the destination of the fifth was already approaching. Not all was as it seemed however for the Nameks Flute and Viola. The pair, somewhat disturbed by the taunting yesterday, seemed to be going out of their way to avoid one another, at least for now. The male of the two, the ever stoic Flute, sat, presently, alone in the training room, several training drones circling his meditating form.

Elsewhere in the ship, in the room now destined to be occupied by two, the Saiyan Kaen awoke, taking a moment to relive the night before, and realising, from the weight against him, that it was not some wonderful dream. While, with her slumbering state, he may not have been able to hear her thoughts, he could still feel their connection; the bite mark on her shoulder, and the matching one on his, were other fairly big clues. After a moment spent basking in her presence he rose carefully, trying not to disturb her, and deciding to try and get in some training with his newly discovered form.

She shifted slightly in her sleep, finding his form missing, but she remained at rest, curling up in the warmth he left behind. Smiling for a moment at his bond-mate he got dressed and headed out, his destination the training room.

The room's current occupant remained where he was, deep in meditation, but with a sudden ki spike and a short cry the drones circling him were destroyed, exploding in mid air.

His female counterpart Viola, as she often did, was spending some time meditating on the holo deck, simulating forests and grassland, but the sudden ki spike she felt from Flute disturbed her meditation.

With a short command more drones were released, as the gravity remained at an even 50 times galactic standard. Regardless, he still levitated above the ground, his cloak, feeling the pull of gravity, hanging straight behind him, and dragging slightly on the floor. Flute himself did not seem to be disturbed greatly by the effects of the gravity; his ki remained higher than normal after the spike, although not as high as the spike had been, and his meditation continued.

With a short, "Don't mind me," Kaen, also feeling the spike as he approached, entered the training room and headed off towards the back. Flute, for his part did not. In fact, his response was so under-whelming, his meditative state not wavering an iota, one had to wonder whether he had noticed the entrance at all.

Pi, in the mean time, finally stirred from her slumber, and she woke up with a yawn and a stretch. Wrapping her tail around her waist as she felt the cool air against her skin, she hugged herself a little, smiling as she thought of Kaen's arms around her. After a moment spent remembering the night before she arose, getting dressed and heading out.

After a few minutes warm up, Kaen began using the kata he had long since memorized. He knew them so well that his mind could wander as his body moved on automatic, and he used the motions to focus his mind upon trying to use his new form; basically through, for lack of a better word, the Saiyan form of meditation.

Finished with her own meditation, Viola headed off towards the training room, in search of the others, while elsewhere in the ship Pi, exiting Kaen's room - their now-shared room - headed off with the same destination in mind.

With another quick shout, and the accompanying ki spike, Flute once again destroyed the circling drones by sheer force of his will alone, and once again, when the spike faded, his power level stabilised higher than it was before.

With no more than an impressed whistle Kaen, not even facing the levitating Namek, continued his own training, but was having no luck with his current technique.

Pi, from her position in the halls, noticed the spike in ki, also noticing it was Flute's, thought, knowing Kaen would hear her, _"He seems tense for some reason."_ Her thoughts were filled with mirth of their taunting.

Hearing her voice in his mind he smiled, before responding in kind, _"That he does. Maybe he's finally starting to realise, and it bothers him."_

_"Or he might aim it at you, because you started it,"_ she retorted, with an innocent jab at his pride.

He just shrugged, both physically and mentally, before replying, _"Good, I could use a workout."_

Hearing this she began laughing, both out loud and through their bond, and almost didn't notice Viola down the hall in front of her.

The green skinned female stopped in her walk as she heard Pi laughing, a confused look on her face as she asked, "What's so funny?"

"Kaen," Pi replied simply, a smirk on her face

The confused look deepening, Viola looked around a moment before saying, "Huh? But he's not here."

The girl, now a woman, smiled as she took Viola's arm and lead her towards the mess hall, replying, "I can hear his thoughts now."

Breaking his meditation, Flute looked at Kaen, saying, "You seem to be using a form of telepathy."

With a smirk on his face, Kaen said, "You noticed huh?"

"A little. I wasn't listening in, I just noted it," was Flute's answer.

Without stopping, he replied, "It's one of the effects of the bond Pi and I formed last night. We can now hear each other's thoughts, and communicate telepathically, as well as a few other things."

"...Because we bonded last night," Pi finished as she, with Viola in tow, entered the cafeteria.

With a confused look, that also hinted at the curiosity she felt, Viola asked, "What do you mean 'bond'?"

Pi blushed a little at explaining the process before they bonded.

"Bond?" Flute asked simply. His calm face did nothing to hide the curiosity in his voice.

With a semi-evil smirk on his face, Kaen stopped his workout, turning to address Flute directly as he said, "Well my green friend, it's time for you to hear a few facts of life..."

Managing to build up the courage, Pi explained, "Um, we bonded, its a Saiyan way of marking your mate for life done when you first...make love..."

Viola found herself blushing a little as well. She may not have known much about this, but she had heard that term used before. She remained silent, however.

"Facts of life?" This time, not even his face hid his confusion.

The smirk widened as Kaen continued, "Yes, I doubt you'd know them, having been lead to believe you were asexual and all, but the simplest explanation for the bond is a Saiyan ritual, if you will, of marking your life mate, usually done whilst first mating."

Pi shook her head a little, saying, "Uh, by making love I mean... _ahem_ mating." She held an absent look to try and fend off her embarrassment, but was failing, and miserably at that.

Viola's curiosity came back as Pi trailed off, but her own embarrassment kept her from making any verbal remarks, simply compelling her to continue with hand gestures and body language.

Flute was caught off guard. He had heard of much in his time of travelling, but little on the subject at hand; the Namek method of reproduction was simple, you would create an egg and wait for it to hatch, nothing more. This was very new to him. "Mating?"

Smirk still intact, if not increasing again, Kaen slowly walked in Flute's direction, delaying the inevitable as long as possible to allow Flute's mind to create it's own images, before explaining. "Yes, mating. It goes by many names, sex being the most widely used, but mating is the Saiyan term. For Saiyans, it's an act usually only ever carried out between life mates, but it's often more frivolous for other races." The smirk widened still, looking extremely evil, as he leaned down and added, "Now then, here's what it involves..." His voice dropped to a whisper as he explained everything in great detail.

Pi, not having the nerve to speak it out loud, whispered the details into Viola's ear.

Flute's jaw dropped, and he cried out, his voice loud enough to be heard for a fair distance around the training room, "I put my what?"

Viola's face looked equally embarrassed and pale as she exclaimed, "In where?"

Pi suppressed what amusement she had at Viola's embarrassment, although she could feel Kaen's amusement only growing at her own. She responded to Viola, making mention of her own first experience and what it entailed, and then continued to explain what the significance of the bite mark on her shoulder, as well as what it allowed her and Kaen to do.

Kaen just continued to smirk at Flute; he felt no need to be embarrassed by what happened, hell, he was proud of it. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, for the Namek at least, Kaen replied, "Trust me, it's a lot more fun that it sounds hearing it from someone else."

A great deal of sweat now on Flute's brow, he coughed a little and gave a short, neutral, response; "I see."

The obvious effort put in to assure the neutrality was enough to cause Kaen to burst into laughter, no longer able to suppress his amusement even as much as he had.

Viola just sat there, blushing like mad, and unable to say a word because of it.

Pi could only blush in sympathy with her. It was a little more than she had ever expected to another being, especially so soon after having experienced it herself.

Deciding training could wait, Kaen headed out, his destination the cafeteria, laughing all the while at the Nameks embarrassment, however well he thought he hid it. Flute, his mouth feeling like cotton, left the room also, trailing after Kaen, but in no hurry to catch up, lest the conversation prior be struck up again.

Arriving in the cafeteria, and instantly noticing Pi's presence, Kaen walked up and gave her a quick kiss, before throwing his coat over the back of one of the chairs and heading off into the kitchen, saying to no one in particular, "I need a drink..."

Pi giggled at this and followed after; the chat with Viola made her forget that she wanted to cook Kaen's breakfast, now lunch, herself, so she left to get him out of the kitchen. After grabbing a bottle from one of the many large fridges, he just smiled at her and allowed himself to be herded out.

Flute entered in that short moment after Pi had left, and a moment of awkward silence ensued as both Flute and Viola looked at each other with guarded thoughts, embarrassment clearly on her face, but it's cause not given away by her gaze alone. The moment didn't last long, however, as within seconds Kaen was forcibly ejected from the kitchen, laughing amusedly and saying, "Alright, I'm going, I'm going."

After smirking for a moment as he looked between the two, Kaen sat down at his previously chosen chair, setting the bottle on the table and saying, in a clearly amused voice, "What's the matter you two? You seem a little embarrassed."

Disregarding the comment, Flute sat down at the table, a few seats down from Viola, and contented himself with glaring at Kaen silently, who, in turn, just smirked back, also silently.

After a few moments of awkward silence the quiet was broken once more, this time by the entrance of Kat, in search of food herself. Picking up on the mood almost instantly, her face took on a worried look as she turned to Kaen, the most likely to answer her, and asked, "What's going on? What's wrong?"

Still smirking in Flute's direction, Kaen just replied, "Not much."

Breaking away from the stare down, Flute called over one of the service robots, ordering his standard drink of water, but otherwise remained silent.

Shrugging her shoulders, Kat caught the order droid before it could leave and made her own order, consisting of a quick meal and a drink of cola, both Neko style. Noticing the bottle in front of Kaen for the first time, she asked, "What's that you've got?"

Popping the cap off, he replied, "Oosquai, true Saiyan alcohol. I haven't had any of this for a long time. Not many places have it; there's enough alcohol in a single glass to kill most races in the galaxy outright, but there's not enough in the entire bottle to get a single Saiyan drunk." He finished his statement by taking a swig from the bottle.

Flute just shook his head as the robot returned with his and Kat's order, placing a drink in front of him, but if he were paying attention he would've noticed the robot confused the orders, giving him Kat's cola, and her his water.

Still looking at Kaen with her usual curious expression, Kat asked, "What's it taste like?" She also failed to notice the drink mix up, only noticing that her order had arrived.

Placing the bottle back on the table he replied, "Like drinking liquid fire."

From the kitchen Pi called out, "Actually, I was told it tastes a lot like grapes when it's been warmed!"

He just snorted, calling back, "Try drinking a dozen or more and see if you still say the same." She just stuck her tongue out at him through their bond.

Flute just shook his head again at the exchange before taking a swig from his own glass, but as soon as he did he started coughing as he realised that what he'd just swallowed wasn't water; it was fizzy and cold, sweeter than any water he'd drunk before, and the bubbles caused the over all shock he wore as he asked, "What is this?"

Kat was the first to look, and as she saw what he had she looked down at the drink she had before exclaiming, "Hey, that robot mixed up the drinks. Stupid thing gave you the one I ordered."

Taking a moment to examine what he'd just drank, Flute noticed that it was an unnatural dark, similar to tainted water. He didn't no what to think, but the drink certainly started to make his stomach feel warm, and from what he could tell there was no ill effect, at least not yet.

Viola, silent and lost in thought until now, turned to Flute and asked, "Can I try some?"

He paused before passing her the glass. "Drink it slowly," was all he could say, the sensation was hard to gauge.

Pi returned from the kitchen bearing a small meal, more of a snack really, for Kaen and herself. Setting it down, she gave him a kiss on the cheek before grabbing his drink and taking a swig with a wink. He just swatted at her playfully and growled a half hearted, "Get your own," although it was obvious he really didn't mind sharing with her.

Looking between the Nameks for a moment, a confused look on her face, Kat asked, "What's up? You guys are acting like you've never even seen soft drink before."

Viola took a hesitant sip of the drink, not sure what to expect, but quite pleased with the taste as she mused, "Hmm, not bad..."

Flute looked at Kat for a second before replying somewhat quietly, "Our race only drink water, it's all we need to consume..."

Interrupting, Kat exclaimed, "You only drink water? That can't be very filling..."

Looking up from her meal, Pi called out, "That's what I said."

After waiting for their conversation to die down, Flute continued, "This soft drink of yours is odd to say the least, not entirely unpleasant, but I was caught unaware of it."

Nodding a bit, Kat replied, "Well it's basically just water with extra stuff in it to make it taste better." Saying this, she got up to order herself another drink, rather annoyed at having to do so.

He nodded, more to himself than anything, before turning back to Viola as if asking for the glass again. She answered his silent question by handing it back to him, her hand brushing his as she did so, but she failed to realise until after the fact. Flute, however, did notice, but he made no reaction other than a quick glance in her direction, instead turning his attention back to the glass in his hand, and the contents therein.

Pi giggled a little to herself as she took another drink from the bottle, while Kaen just had an amused smirk and a rueful shake of his head for the Nameks behaviour. Taking the bottle back and having another drink himself, Kaen commented to no one in particular, "Whoever built this thing obviously had Saiyans in mind. There's enough of this back there to get the entirety of Vegeta-Sei drunk and keep them that way for a month or more.

"I'd have thought the proximity of the training room to the cafeteria was more than enough of a hint," called a voice from the doorway, Frost's voice.

With no more than a shrug Kaen replied, "Touché. Don't 'spose you know who built it?"

Frost paused a moment in thought, before saying, "I don't remember the name, but I'll check into it for you." The Aisu was more than happy to keep Kaen placated after what happened on the last planet, when they went to retrieve the fourth dragon ball.

Avery walked in without a word to anyone, just ordering his usual from the robot, which also included hard alcohol, before sitting down far enough away from the others to make it clear he didn't want company, but close enough to hear any conversations.

Frost sat at a table between Avery and the others, ordering a meal and some wine, and the robots worked speedily to fulfil the orders. Frost's meal was brought first, as per their programming, followed by Avery, and finally the Nameks got their new order of the sweet drink Kat had inadvertently introduced them to.

Noticing Frost's order, Kaen snorted mildly and said, "Wine? Lightweight."

In response, Frost shot Kaen a small glare, about as harsh a glare as he dared, as he replied, "This is Arctizan wine I'll have you know."

The Saiyan male just raised an eyebrow, a semi-impressed look on his face as he said, "Really? That's okay then."

Frost wore a small smile as he ate his meal with the dignity befitting his status.

Kaen chuckled quietly to himself at the sheer pomposity the Aisu gave off when doing something as simple as eating, but just chalked it up to him being what he was and said nothing.

Viola just drank her drink quietly, unsure of how to deal with everything, having little to no social skills to speak of, but starting to care less the more she drank. Flute drank his drink as well, and he seemed to become more reserved than usual, but he now, for some reason, had more than enough nerve to look at Viola properly, rather than stealing a few odd glances.

With a curious look, Kat glanced at the bottle and asked Kaen, "Can I try some of that?" She may have been asking Pi, but the end result would've been the same.

Kaen's response was a curt "No" at the same time as Frost answered "You're too young" for them.

She started pouting, whining, "Aww, how come?"

Frost shook his head, replying, "The last thing I need is a drunk Neko in a ship filled with shiny, lighted buttons."

Kaen hid an amused smile behind his bottle while Pi stifled her own giggles with her hand. Flute laughed quietly to himself, and Viola giggled rather loudly, at least for her, until she heard herself and cut off abruptly with a look that seemed to say 'Was that me?' Even Avery gave a sharp bark of a laugh at the look on her face.

She pouted a little longer before realising that the sympathy vote wasn't going to work. Sulking to herself, and muttering, "You're no fun..." before stalking off to her room.

Flute finished his glass, ordering another right away. He felt a little light-headed, and if anything quite warm indeed; a curious feeling to say the least, and one Viola seemed to share.

From his seat, Avery called out, "Don't press any buttons while you're out there!" to Kat as she left, but she just gave him the finger and kept walking, speeding up a bit to make sure they didn't see the tears in her eyes.

Frost just shook his head a little at the exchange and continued his meal in silence.

Finishing his meal, Kaen just ordered himself and Pi several more bottles. Smirking a little, a blush crept across Pi's cheeks as she whispered, "I don't think I can drink that much..."

Kaen just smirked back, replying just as softly, "You'll never know if you don't try."

She just shook her head before leaning against him and resting on his chest, happy enough just to be near her mate. He put an arm around her, pulling her closer, and with another amused look he shared the memory of the first time he drank through their bond.

The shock their position didn't allow him to see on her face was evident both in her voice and through their bond as she said, **"They made you drink that much?"**

He shrugged, a gesture that she could feel instead of see, as he replied, **"They said it was something Korin told them to do. Guess they figured it was as good a time as any. I think they were gonna do some other things as well, coz I heard one of the guys saying, 'We can't do that. He's got a girl back home, and she has a temper.'"**

With that their drinks arrived, and they switched to their bond to continue their conversation.

By this point, Flute was feeling quite strange. Now on to his fourth glass of soft drink he was feeling slightly disoriented, and... Well, he couldn't describe it to himself. If he were anyone else he would've said he was drunk, but as it was he had no inkling of his condition in the slightest.

Viola found herself giggling to herself for no reason whatsoever, only to stop, try and think of why she was giggling, and start again because she couldn't work out why she started in the first place.

Breaking the routine, Flute spoke telepathically to Viola, _"I don't think this drink is sitting well with me. I don't feel ill, but certainly odd..."_

Still giggling, Viola responded in kind, _"I dunno, I feel really good. I haven't felt this good in years."_

For some reason, he couldn't work out what, he didn't seem to be able to stop drinking the soft drink, despite what it might or might not be doing to him. On top of that he started to chuckle a little with Viola, as if the two shared a silent joke between them that neither could think of.

Without realising what she was doing she began staring at him for minutes on end, her face flushing a bit as her giggles continued before she'd look away, only to repeat the cycle. For his part Flute returned her gaze, but other than the small lines of mirth on his face he showed no outward reaction.

Frost glanced up at the pair, but, as he'd never really seen Nameks interacting before he thought nothing of it. Turning back, his eyes locked with Avery's, and the two shared a comrade-ish look, raising their glasses in a silent toast, before they both returned to their drink and their thoughts.

Noticing the noise, Kaen looked up at the Nameks for a moment before saying through their bond, _"Hey, check those two out. If I didn't know better I'd swear they were drunk."_

She nodded a little, replying, _"Well, they only ever drink water... The sugar, and caffeine, could be affecting them."_

Smiling a little to himself, he said, _"Sure seems that way. Maybe this will help them loosen up a little."_

_"Don't be mean."_ She reinforced her statement by hitting him playfully on the arm.

Frost, feeling he'd had more than enough, stood and quietly sauntered away, to do whatever it was he did in a normal day.

Fending her off equally as playfully, Kaen replied, _"Oh come on, you know there's something between them, but they're both too stubborn and naive to do anything about it."_

She smiled before responding, _"I know, but they need to come to it in their own time, like we did."_

Avery, following Frost's lead, just finished his drink and walked off, without so much as a glance for anyone.

Pi watched Avery leave, and her gaze landed on the bottles of alcohol before them. She smirked almost sinfully as she looked back at Kaen. Feigning innocence, something he didn't do very well, he just raised an eyebrow and said, _"Yes?"_

She just reached up and started whispering an idea she had into his ear. By the time she was finished he wore a smirk that mirrored hers. He just nodded his head once before standing up, lifting her with his left arm, grabbing four of the bottles with right, a fifth, an open one, with his tail, and offering it to Pi as he carried everything, her included, off to their room, with Pi giggling all the while.

Flute watched the pair leave, saying after a moment, **'It seems that we are alone...'**

Viola, still giggling, failed to notice them leave until he'd pointed it out, saying, **'Hey, so we are.'**

His mood seemed to fall into remorse at the word 'alone', and he stared at the glass in his hand before saying, in a voice just above a whisper, **'The road to redemption is long...'**

Looking a little confused, she replied, **'Huh? What do you mean redemption?'**

**'I...'** he began, **'I miss the clear skies of Namek. The cool breeze along the plains, and the trees...'** His musings fell silent again at the mention of 'trees'.

She smiled a little, saying, **'I think I understand. I miss my home too, but I don't regret having had to leave. And I know there's more you're not saying, but you don't have to if you don't want to.'**

He allowed himself a brief smile, replying, **'Thank you,'** and placing his hand on hers.

She placed her other hand on top, failing to realise the intimacy of the gesture, before finishing her thought with, **'I'm always here if you need to talk.'**

**'I appreciate it greatly.'** It was over before he realised that he had acted purely on impulse; he'd taken up Viola's hand and kissed the back of it softly, before letting their hands fall slowly back to the table. This time she did realise, and began blushing slightly, but made no effort to change the situation, or any other reaction; Flute himself just looked down at their clasped hands, saying nothing as he thought over _why_ he'd done that.

Just as the silence was starting to turn awkward, Viola broke it by bursting out into another fit of giggles before saying, **'No one back home would believe me if I told them anything about what I've seen so far, the people I've met, any of it.'**

He smiled back at her, replying, **'If they want proof they can always ask me.'** His gesture held little value at that point, but he made it all the same.

Giggling again, she said, **'Well, even seeing you would prove at least half of them wrong.'**

**'And bringing you to Namek would cause many a head to turn.'** He replied with a smirk.

Managing to get her giggles under control, she said, **'Well, I should think so. I'm quite good looking if I do say so myself.'** Even moments after the words left her lips she couldn't work out where they came from, or why she said them, or even why she felt that way, but she felt too good to argue the point much, even just in her own mind.

Flute seemed that he wasn't one to argue either as he said, **'If any were to say that there existed something more beautiful than you, I wouldn't want to know about it.'**

She smiled again, using one hand to stroke his face as she whispered, **'You're not so bad there yourself.'** Her blush returned the second the words left her lips, but she didn't pull her hand away. His hand took hold of the one against his face, and with no more warning than that he drew her close, pressing his lips to hers.

End Chapter 10

To be continued...


	13. A Moment of Rest part 2

--- The Phoenix Chronicles ---

Chapter 11 - A Moment of Rest, Part 2 - Revelations

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A small ship, more of a pod than anything, sails through the emptiness of space on silent wings. It's engines are still, dead, as it continues on through momentum alone. The pilot lay inside, unconscious, his body broken and bleeding. The ships regenerative machinery has long since stopped healing him, as the ship is reduced to minimal power output, only the most basic of life support.

As it's pilot, the Saiyan warrior Kaen, fades in and out of consciousness, his mind contemplates just how surreal everything can seem when one dances the razors edge between life and death. He vaguely remembers his ship warning of an upcoming electromagnetic storm, but doesn't remember the storm hitting. He remembers the ship auto-plotting a course, but not it's destination.

He remembers the ship approaching its destination, but not how it got there, or how long it took to do so. His last conscious thought before darkness claims him for the last time is one of thanks that his ship had sent him in a direct line to the nearest planet.

He glared at the man before him, showing no fear despite the fact the other man was armed, as he said, "You didn't intimidate me last time Teki, and this time will be no different."

The man simply smirked in response as he raised his weapon, replying, "I didn't come here to intimidate you Ishi, I came here to kill you." He paused a moment before laughing and continuing, "Oh, don't look so shocked. I know you've seen this coming for a while now. You've stepped on my toes for the last time."

"You sonofabitch!" a third man yelled, running towards him, but the appearance of a gunship, Teki's gunship, stopped him in his tracks.

"Oh no you don't!" Teki warned, "You are going to stand there and watch as I blow your father away, or you're going to join him."

"Stand down Musuko!" Ishi ordered.

The third man, Musuko, glared at Teki a little longer, before stepping back, growling, "Mark my words, you're going to get yours someday."

He laughed, a short, evil laugh, as he trained his weapon on the older of the men, saying, "Who's going to give it to me, huh? You? Not likely. Now say goodbye old man, the time for your death is now."

A gasp from a bystander was the first clue something was wrong, followed shortly by another, and another, but he thought nothing of it. That was until he heard a noise, like a fire, steadily increasing. He heard a hushed cry of, "An asteroid," and he spun around, but it was too late to do anything bar witness his impending destruction.

A ball of fire, easily the size of a man or larger, tore through the upper atmosphere, heading directly for him. He didn't even have time to scream before it tore through the gunship with a massive explosion, and collided with the ground, the very ground he stood on, reducing it to a massive crater in a shower of earth.

A look of disbelief on his face, Musuko muttered, "Look's like that day is today after all..."

The people around just stared in equal parts shock and horror; many people had wanted to see him dead, but no one expected it to happen any time soon, let alone see him killed like this. As the fire started from it's passage through the atmosphere died down, another gasp came from those witnessing, as instead of the rock they expected to see, a spherical ship rested in the centre of the crater.

Wasting no time, Ishi dove into the crater, running up to what appeared to be the front. Taking a look in the window, he cried out, "There's a man inside!"

Taking that as his cue, Musuko, and a few other observers, followed him into the crater, and helped him open up what looked like the hatch. He was not, and may never have been, prepared for the sight that lay inside. He had seen some horrible sights in his time - his father was a doctor, it was par for the course - but he had never seen anyone hurt this badly, and it almost made him lose his lunch. With great effort he swallowed, before saying shakily, "There's no way he can still be alive..."

Feeling around for a pulse, and finding one, albeit very weak, Ishi turned around with a look of disbelief on his face as he replied, "Well, he is, but he may not be for longer." When his son failed to reply, he continued, "Are you going to help me bring him into the clinic, or are you going to stand there and watch him die?"

Shaking himself from his stupor, he helped his father carry the unknown injured man inside to begin the long, arduous process of saving his life.

As consciousness returned to him, the first thing he noticed was a high pitched beeping. At first, he thought it must have been some sort of warning from his ships controls, but as the haze of slumber began to dispel, he realised that it wasn't incessant, like an alarm should be. It was more rhythmic, almost like... A heartbeat!

With this realisation, he began to notice other things. First, he was lying down on something soft, probably a bed of some sort, so he wasn't in his ship anymore. Second, he seemed to be wearing what he guessed was a hospital gown instead of what was left of his armour and bodysuit. Third, there was more weight on his right arm and left leg than normal, and there were several other points on his body where unknown pressure was being applied, which he assumed were bandages. All three points seemed to indicate he had, somehow, reached the help he needed.

Opening his eyes slowly, he allowed his eyes to readjust to the light, made up of equal parts artificial and actual solar lights. That done, he looked around the room around him for anything that might tell him where he was. The room was rather small, with several other beds, he assumed, like his. The walls were painted white, and the floor was slightly reflective; everything looked very clean and sterile. All together, it looked like an ordinary hospital room, which didn't help him any.

Raising his arms to help him sit up, he noticed just what the weight around his right arm was, his right forearm to be exact. There, in plain sight, was a cast, indicating just how hurt he had been. He realised that a similar cast must've been the weight on his lower left leg. A sharp hiss escaped his lips as he pulled himself up. His tail hurt, a lot, and when the pain dimmed he realised that extra padding had been placed on the bed there, to compensate for him having had to lie down on his injured tail. For a moment, he expected to see a cast there as well, but as he noticed the bandages wrapped around it he realised just how unlikely that was.

"Oh, you're finally awake." An unknown man, a doctor by the looks of him, said as he walked in. "I take your tail still hurts."

He nodded slowly, stopping and holding a hand to his head as his vision began to swim.

"So, how do you feel?" the doctor asked.

He just glared at the doctor in response, well, where he assumed the doctor was, a glare that screamed 'How do you _think_ I feel?'

Chuckling a little, the doctor said, "I take it by your look that was a stupid question."

He nodded once, slowly, before saying, his voice dry, "Where... Who..." He stopped, holding a hand to his head again as dizziness took him.

The doctor chuckled again, saying, "Sorry, guess I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Doctor Ishi, and you're in my clinic on Ichiba-Sei. So what's your name?"

Coughing a bit, he replied, "Can't..." trailing off once again as the room seemed to dance around him.

Unfazed, the doctor nodded, before saying, "You can't remember? Well that's not unexpected; you did suffer a serious head injury. Don't worry, it'll all come back..." He trailed off as the unknown patient raised his right, cast-covered hand as if to say 'Stop.'

Taking a moment to collect himself, and swallowing several times to wet his dry throat, he said, "I remember, but I... can't tell you. Too dangerous..."

Now slightly confused, the doctor asked, "Why can't you tell me your name? How can knowing it be dangerous to you?"

Laughing a little, but stopping as he broke out in a fit of coughs, he replied, his head now clear, "It's not dangerous for me, it's dangerous for you. The man who tried to kill me knew my name, so it's better for you if you never met me."

The doctor raised an eyebrow, be it in question, amusement, or wonder, he couldn't tell, but otherwise made no comment. Right up until the point the still unnamed patient started to get out of the bed, when he started stammering, "Look, sir, you really shouldn't. You need your rest. You've been asleep for three days straight so far, and you're not ready to be up and around."

He got up regardless, and shooting the doctor a look, he said, "I've slept long enough. I thank you for your help, but I can't really pay you. Now, you can either bring me my clothes, or I can walk out of here dressed like this, it's up to you."

The doctor looked at him sceptically for a moment, before walking away and coming back with some clothes in his hand. At his patients questioning glance, as he noticed the garments weren't his, the doctor replied, "Your clothes were too damaged to be saved. I actually had to cut many of them off you to fix your wounds. The boots are pretty much all I could save, so I had to give you some of my son's old clothes. You're about his size, and they're loose enough to fit over your casts. On that note, you'll need to come back in a week or two to have them removed. And as for paying me, you needn't worry about that; this is a free clinic I fund with the profits from the adjoining hotel I own. In fact, I should probably pay you."

Pausing in dressing, he raised an eyebrow in question, asking, "Oh? How so?"

Chuckling again, the doctor answered, "Well, when you landed - a nice dramatic landing I might add - you crushed a man who was just three seconds away from killing me, and thus saved my life. While I doubt it was your intention to do so, I feel I should reward you anyway, so I'll give you a few nights stay in my hotel next door, free of charge, all inclusive."

Laughing a little himself as he pulled on his left boot, silently thanking it's maker that, being stretch-fit, he could wear it with his foot in a cast, the man replied, "You might just regret that, but okay, I accept. Now, I don't suppose you can point me in the general direction of my ship?"

Letting out an exasperated sigh, and muttering, "I said you'll need to come back in a week or two..." under his breath, he said out loud, "I had it put in storage, you can get directions from the lady at the reception desk of the hotel. I'm letting you leave against my better judgement; you barely survived, you know that right?"

He just shrugged, replying, "I'm not scared of death. Hell, the closer I come to it, the stronger I get. Thanks for everything doc, and I hope you won't be offended if I say I hope we never meet again."

And with no more than that, he was gone, his identity still a mystery.

o-o-o

The Icebreaker hurtles through the vastness of space on silent wings, it's destination the fifth mystical dragon ball. After spending a day recuperating from their last venture, and recovering the fourth ball, it seems its business as usual again for the unusual group of travellers. The Aisu Frost sits at his controls, flanked by Kat and Avery, all under the watchful eye of the stoic Flute. Well, his watchful third eye anyway, as, in the muted silence, Flute sits in meditation, floating partially in the air.

Frost and Avery appear, at least at first glance, to be busy at their controls, but every so often one, or both, of them turns towards Kat, trying to keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't do anything. For her part, she either doesn't notice their scrutiny, or doesn't care, as she sits at her terminal silently, pouting over their treating her like a child yesterday.

In another part of the ship, the Saiyan Pi stirred from her rest, sitting up wearily and yawning, stretching a little as she did so. Her partner Kaen, noticing her awakening from his current location in the training room, greets her telepathically with a simple, _"Morning."_

She appeared a little miffed as she responded, _"Why didn't you wake me?"_ her mood showing through the bond.

To his credit, he managed to resist the fear he knew he should feel at having her angry at him as he replied, _"You looked too beautiful lying there, I just couldn't bring myself to wake you."_

His response made her blush furiously, and feel giddy to boot, but she managed to keep this to herself as she said, _"I wanted to do some training with you, and you know it."_

He sighed before responding, _"I know, and you know as well as I do that I'd love that, but I also wanted to get in some training with my new form and... I didn't really want you to feel what I was going through at the time..."_

She shuddered a little as she felt a little of his after thoughts on the matter filtering through their bond; she only had a vague idea of what had happened, and everyone was being tight-lipped about it. _"I'm tough enough to deal with it Kaen, I have to be, with _you_ as my mate,"_ she joked.

His smile was evident even from their different locations, and his mental voice sounded more light-hearted as he replied, _"I know, guess I'm just trying to save you unnecessary pain. Don't worry, you know I'll come around eventually." _He laughed a little as he added, _"Just may take me a little while, but what else is new?"_

She dressed herself and shook her head a little. _"Just remember Kaen, anything you learn you need to show me too."_

His 'smile' broadened as he replied, _"I wouldn't have it any other way. What sort of teacher would I be if I kept things from my best student?"_

_"A Saiyan one."_ Her response came swiftly as she headed out of the room, and he just shrugged mentally. At that she let their conversation end, heading into the hall in search of Viola.

The woman in question was currently just wandering the ship aimlessly, deciding to just now explore the places she'd yet to look at. At least, that was her excuse; truth be told, she was trying to get as far away from Flute as possible until she could work a few things out.

Pi spent a few minutes trying to find her, sensing her out and tracking her down. Noticing the attention, Viola stopped in her exploration and flared her ki a little to help her track. She soon caught up, smiling as she asked, "Having fun?"

The Namek woman smiled a bit herself, saying, "Yeah. This ship is so huge, I could probably spend a week searching and not find everything."

See nodded, replying, "Sure is a big place. Oh, I meant to ask you, were you feeling okay yesterday?"

Turning away in an attempt to hide the rising blush with forced curiosity, she replied, "Yeah, more or less..."

Surprised by Viola's reaction, Pi prodded further, "You and Flute looked like you were drunk..."

She shrugged, saying, "I wouldn't know exactly, but I know that drink made me feel better than I have in a while now."

"Just the drink?" Pi asked in feigned innocence.

"Of course." Viola replied a little uneasily.

A broad grin broke onto her face, "You and Flute were getting very friendly before Kaen and I left..."

Forcefully turning away, Viola just flicked her hair over her shoulder as she replied stiffly, "I have no idea what you are talking about."

Realising her current approach wouldn't work, Pi switched tactics, making her voice a slightly pleading one as she said, "Oh please Viola, I thought we were friends. You can tell me anything, I promise to keep it secret." As Viola's only reply was a soft, defeated groan, Pi knew it was working, and pressed on, "So what happened Viola, tell me, please?"

Viola slumped her shoulders in defeat, thinking to herself 'Now I know why she always gets what she wants' as she crouched down and mumbled something under her breath, too soft for even her own ears to pick up.

Pi frowned slightly, somehow still managing to sound pleading, and yet sounding disapproving at the same time, as she said, "I can't hear you Viola. I promise I won't speak a word of it to anyone, really."

Looking up at her, she said, still softly, but now loud enough to be heard, "He kissed me... or I kissed him... or both, I don't know now..."

An excited look flooded Pi's face, and like a sister she grabbed hold of Viola's arm, giggling, "Well, what was it like? Did you enjoy it? Did he slip you his tongue?"Blushing madly, Viola was stuttering too much for any coherent reply to be understood, but her face said much her voice could not. Pi smiled, and stopped acting so childish, well, as best she could anyway; this was exciting news, and it was the first time she'd been able to have real girl talk for almost four standard years, and the first time ever since she and Kaen had become mates. Still smiling, she asked, "So, did Flute say anything?"

Managing to calm down somewhat after Pi's outburst, she replied, "We both said a lot of things... I'm not sure what you'd think was important though..."

The young Saiyan woman's tone became suspicious, "What did you say then? To spark his reaction enough to kiss you?" A smirk grew on her face.

Her blush returning, Viola managed to get out, "I don't remember exactly... I guess you could sum up what we both said to 'I'll be there for you if you need me'."

She smiled, sighing a little, "How romantic. Who knew?"

The green-skinned woman just blushed again, whispering, "I just wish I knew where to go from here..."

"Have you spoken to him about it at all?" Pi asked rather blandly, as if it were the most obvious step.

She just shook her head, saying, "I don't know what to say... That was one of the reasons I was down here, to try to figure things out... And as you said, we were both drunk... I'm not sure if he'd even remember..."

"Well, there's only one way to find out." Pi said determinedly, grabbing her arm again and more or less dragging her into the nearest elevator, hitting the button to take them to the control room. Viola struggled as best she could, but she knew it was futile; Pi was stronger than her after all, and seemed she wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer - not that she often did.

Acting on her own impulse Pi smirked, relaying the information to Kaen telepathically, knowing both that Viola would never know, and that doing so wasn't breaking her promise - she promised never to _say_ a word; she said no such thing about _thinking_ them.

His reply came quickly, sounding very amused as he said, _"Oh this I gotta see."_

_"Come to the control room, I'll delay it."_ She hit the button to let them out near their rooms, and dragged Viola out. The Namek woman's struggles became more desperate the closer they came to their destination, and were she not so concerned about what would happen when they got there, and finding ways to stop it happening, she would have noticed Pi was taking the long way, and wondered why.

Wasting no time, Kaen quickly left the training room, not even bothering to collect his coat, and hurried off to the control room as fast as he could without it being obvious he was hurrying. Even at a fast walking speed, for him anyway, he still arrived in the control room minutes ahead of the women, in part thanks to Pi's delaying.

When he arrived, Flute paused momentarily as he walked in, and Frost looked as well, both seemed to raise an eyebrow, in unison, in question of his presence.

Glaring at them, he answered their unasked question with, "What? I need something to do while the training room resets, and I figured that finding out how this ship worked would kill a fair amount of time, so I came to see it in my own eyes. Is that a problem?"

Flute returned to his silent meditation, but Frost kept his gaze on Kaen a while longer, saying, "Not at all. Oh, while you're here, I've got something I want to show you, as soon as I find where I put it," before turning back to his console, and starting looking for whatever he wanted.

Kaen just leant on the wall, trying to hide the rising smirk behind a bored expression, as he replied, "Take your time," in a similarly bored voice.

Before too long, Pi entered with Viola, the former still dragging the latter. Flute looked a little unhinged, to say the least, and Frost looked up at their entrance too, saying, "Well, well, well, looks like the whole gang is here."

From his position against the wall, Kaen called out, still in a forced bored voice, "Seems that way..."

Viola looked twice as nervous now, seeing everyone gathered there, as she did before, especially at Kaen being there. Pi smiled and released her now that she was in too deep to back out, and walked over to stand next to Kaen. After leaning up to give him a quick kiss on the cheek, she lay back against him, urging Viola on with her eyes. Trying her best to tune out everyone and everything else from her mind bar him, Viola slowly walked up to Flute, who still looked shell-shocked, and, after a few tries, managed to say, "C..Can I talk to you for a moment?"

Flute peered uneasily at the ground and nodded, but replied telepathically, _"I won't say no..."_

Fighting down the urge to speak either telepathically, or in her, their, native language, she wet her lips, suddenly drier than she ever remembered them being, as she asked, "Do... Do you remember... what you said yesterday?"

He blocked out the others around him as best he could, but still sounded slightly nervous as he said, "...Yes."

Looking directly into his eyes, both to help block out the others, and to help calm her nerves, she said, "I just... wanted to know where we go from here... I've... never felt like this before, and I've been in a... situation like this, so..." She trailed off, seemingly unsure of how to finish.

From his spot against the wall, Kaen tried valiantly to hide his knowing smirk, and Pi, still leaning against him, with her head resting on his chest, watched on silently, but excitedly.

Flute returned her gaze, and fumbled through his thoughts, trying to order them correctly, before eventually arriving at, "I do not know either, this is very... different. But I mean what I said, I will be here for you if you need me, other than that... well... who knows?"

She smiled, suddenly feeling braver than ever before, as she walked closer, saying in almost a whisper, yet one that, in the unusual quiet of the control room, was still hard by all, "Let's just make it up as we go then..." before kissing him. His shock, both at the show of affection, and the showing of it in front of their audience, was severely outweighed by his desire to wrap his arms around her an return it.

Pi sighed excitedly, stars almost visible in her eyes, and wrapped her arms around Kaen as best she could from her position; he, in turn, wrapped his arms around her, a smirk finally breaking it's way through, his tail snaking it's way around her waist. Kat sighed just as dramatically as Pi, while Frost's jaw almost dropped all the way down to the console he was looking over at the scene before him. Avery, however, just grunted sourly, a noise unheard by the others, before turning away.

Breaking the kiss, and after staring into Flute's eyes for a moment, Viola suddenly remembered the others, and started blushing heavily, but prided herself on the fact that she made no other reaction. Flute, on the other hand, simply gave an indignantly gruff "Hmph" towards the others.

Noticing the moment seemed to be over, Kaen called out from his position, to no one in particular, but loud enough for everyone to hear, "Guess I was right after all..." Pi jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow to knock some wind out of him, but he just held her closer, saying nothing else.

Still holding Viola, Flute had no idea what to do now, but he did know that whatever happened next, he wanted it to happen away from everyone's gaping view, so he offered his arm to Viola, making motions as though to leave. Still blushing, though the amount had lessened some, she smiled and accepted his offer, and the two left the room with a quiet amount of dignity.

As the two left earshot Frost shook his head slightly, saying, "Well, that was different to say the least, especially from a race considered practically galaxy-wide to be asexual."

Kat sighed a little, an excited and utterly girly sigh, with a trace of wistfulness that would go unnoticed to all but the most observant of people, as she said, "How romantic... It just goes to show there really is someone for everyone..." Everyone bar Avery, the only one not still looking out the way the Namek couple left, missed the quick glance she shot Kaen as she said this, including the man in question.

Shaking his head again, Frost aid, "Well Kaen, I suspect you came for the show, but the fun isn't over yet."

Still smirking, the Saiyan male remarked, "Am I that obvious?"

Frost smirked, replying good-naturedly, "As subtle as a brick."

"But better looking," Pi added.

Smiling down at her, he laughed, "I should think so."

Frost gave a short laugh at her comment and shook his head one more time, waiting until they were done before saying, "Well, like I said, the fun isn't over yet. Remember how I said I stole this ship from Frieza?"

Kaen nodded, replying, "It's kinda hard to forget."

The Aisu turned his chair to face Kaen, holding some sort of disc in his hand as he said, "Wanna see his face when he opened his hangar to find nothing?" He made no effort to hide the superiority etched onto his features

The Saiyan male's face lit up as he almost shouted, "Hell yes!" Despite his excitement, he still managed to keep his voice low enough to not hurt Pi's ears, which were currently in close proximity to his mouth, although it was only by a small margin. She only giggled as he did, but still elbowed him affectionately. Excited, and a little impatient, he picked her up where she stood, without disturbing either of them, as he levitated closer to the console.

Frost shook his head good-naturedly as he watched them, saying, "No need to be so close," before swivelling his chair towards the front of the ship and adding, "Play back, on main screen." The larger viewing port became obscured as the footage began to play, of Frieza's ceremony, the doors opening to reveal an empty hangar, and the mayhem that followed.

Kaen burst out laughing, making no effort to hide his amusement whatsoever. Frost simply smiled to himself, saying, "I've watched this over twenty times, and that never gets old," and adding quietly, too quietly for even the Saiyan's ear to pick up, "That's what you get for making my life a living hell you bastard."

Managing to hold his laughter in for a moment, Kaen blurted out abruptly, "Wait. Pause it a second." Frost deftly hit the console to freeze frame, and Kaen took a moment to properly examine the image before him before muttered in a semi-awed voice, "I don't believe it... No way..."

Their interests peaked, the others, minus Avery - who couldn't care less if he tried - turned to look at Kaen in silent question, but it was Frost who voiced the question first, "What?"

He pointed towards the screen, to a particular spot in the crowd, and replied, "That's my father, right there."

Pi looked excitedly, saying, "It does look like him... Can you make it bigger Frost?" The Aisu nodded, and pushed the required controls to zoom the image in at the spot Kaen had pointed out. The image clearly showed two older Saiyans, one male, one female, wearing barely resigned smirks mixed with shock, and two younger Saiyans, also one male, one female, in fits of laughter.

His voice excited, Kaen said, "That is them... Father, mother, and the midgets too..."

Pi gave him a defter blow than before, in defence of his siblings, chastising, "Be nice."

Raising an eyebrow in amusement, he retorted, "I am."

Frost paused in thought, seemingly oblivious to their actions, talking softly to himself, "Your father you say hmm?"

Looking back at the screen, Kaen said, to no one in particular, "Oh man... If they found that fall-down amusing, just imagine how they'd react knowing I'm _on_ that missing ship right now..." Pi nodded, and giggled a little as well. Laughing a little bit as he noticed something else, he added, "And it seems like the little prince found it just as entertaining."

Frost nodded, saying, "Yes, King Vegeta was equally amused I assure you. Hell, I'll bet everyone in the crowd was amused, but those three kids were the only ones game enough to show it."

Kaen just laughed again, saying, "Yeah, they don't seem to be trying very hard to shut the kids up."

Giggling a little herself, Kat remarked, "So that's your family, huh? What are the odds?"

Frost shook his head, replying, "Not really much of a coincidence actually. I remember him now, your father that it. He's the one who designed this ship at Frieza's request."

The awed look returned as he took another look around the control room, as if seeing it for the first time. 'Why didn't I see it before?' he thought to himself. Now that he knew, he could see his father's particular brand of humour and style everywhere. The training room, the holo deck, the cafeteria, the pain-feeling robots; they practically had his old man's name scrawled across them in big bold red letters. He muttered, "No way..."

Pi smiled a little and stroked his tail absently as she took another look around as well, and gazing into her eyes he could see similar thoughts running through her mind. Looking down for a moment, he sighed wistfully, "I wish I could tell him I'm on his ship..."

"As soon as I figure out the long range communications I'll let you know," said Frost.

"You do that," Kaen replied; translating his words from 'Saiyan male' to 'Basic' you'd get something along the lines of "Thanks. I appreciate it." Grunting annoyedly, Kaen added almost bitterly, "I've already got a perfect way to contact him, one that would reach him directly, but the mongrel thing's fried." Looking at Pi for a moment, he continued, still speaking to Frost even if he wasn't looking at him, "See, my father built my pod especially for me, and a lot of the stuff in it, but most of the equipment was trashed by an electromagnetic storm."

"I could have one of the repair-bots take a look at it," Frost suggested helpfully.

He sighed again, "It's worth a shot, but I doubt they could do much. I've repaired most of it already. Cost me a packet too, I spent at least a month just getting it to usable conditions again, not to mention how much the parts cost. Problem is, if he couldn't find a part to do what he wanted, my dad tended to make a custom piece, usually one-of-a-kind. The comm-system had such a piece..."

Frost shrugged, "One-of-a-kind huh? Hard luck with that."

Laughing a little, although it seemed a little forced even to Frost, Kaen said, "You wouldn't believe how many people I had to kill just to repair it to as-is... I guess that was half the problem, I couldn't stick around long enough to get the custom parts built. There were other systems more important at the time... I could probably build it myself, but I'd need the materials, and they're expensive as hell..."

Shaking off the bad memories and musing before they could set in, he asked curiously, "Don't 'spose you've got the plans for this thing anywhere? If I know my father half as well as I think I do, he's loaded this thing with surprises."

Frost just shrugged, replying silently 'I don't know' before adding, "Once Frieza and Cold are removed from existence, I intend to go back to my home world and rule in Frieza's stead; owning the galaxy was never my thing. After that, I have no real use for this ship, so you can do with it what you want."

Kaen smirked again, saying, "Wonderful..." before taking another look around, adding after a moment of quiet, "I've tried to reproduce his work myself, but I guess I'll always be a warrior first."

At this point, Pi piped up, "Not until we finish helping Flute! Remember?"

Frost visibly cringed, his daydream of ruling temporarily crushed, as he replied, "Yes, yes, I remember."

Her mate just grinned again, saying, "Don't worry, I haven't forgotten. I always finish the jobs I take on."

She paused for a moment, before asking thoughtfully, "I wonder why he needs the dragon balls... And if they're Namekian, how come they're spread out over the galaxy so far?"

Kaen just shrugged, replying, "Who knows? First thing I learnt as a mercenary was that people only tell you what you need to know to get a job done, and only when you need to know it. If it was important I'm sure he'd tell us."

Pi nodded a little, but persisted in a sweet, almost innocent way, "But aren't you the littlest bit curious about what they are?"

He shrugged again, saying, "'Course I am, I'm curious about most things I don't already know about, but the second thing I learnt was not to ask questions you don't expect an answer to."

"How do you know he won't answer?" Frost asked, curious now himself.

Raising an eyebrow, he replied, "I've been doing this for four standard years now, and for at least three of them I've been considered galaxy-wide as the best in the business. You can't work as a merc that long without learning to read your boss' expressions and personality; what they're not saying is often as important as what they are. It becomes obvious who's willing to talk and who isn't after a while."

Pi shrugged, then grinned and said, "Maybe Viola knows..."

Kaen grinned a little himself, replying, "Probably, but the question is, will she betray Flute's confidence?"

Frost found himself grinning despite himself as he added, "I don't think so, not after that little display."

Kaen laughed a little to himself, looking at Frost for a moment before saying, "Do you have any idea how amusing it was to watch that play out?" Pi giggled a little in agreement.

Frost nodded a little, commenting, "Certainly was an amusing little build up. So why'd you spike their drinks Kat?"

The feline girl, who'd up til now been silent, suddenly exploded into shock, spluttering, "But I didn't... I mean I never... I mean how was I 'sposed to know..."

The Aisu commander rose an eyebrow, saying wryly, "You mean to say, plain old carbonated water, sugar and caffeine got them drunk enough to do that?"

Kat nodded vehemently, replying, "That's right. I didn't touch their drinks, so unless the robots screwed it up it was just plain old Neko-style cola." She paused a moment, before adding a touch bitterly, "Besides, how would I get my hands on anything to spike the drinks with when I'm not allowed anything even resembling alcohol?"

Everyone seemed to either ignore, or not hear, the second statement. Pi paused a moment in thought before saying, "That might have done it by itself. Since Nameks only need plain water, and nothing else, to live, their bodies wouldn't be designed to handle much else."

Kaen just laughed again, saying, "Relax, this has been coming for a long time now. I knew almost from the moment they laid eyes on each other they'd wind up together."

Pi grinned a little, saying teasingly, "Really? I thought you were too distracted about me knocking you down with my hammer to notice much else. You always were a little think-headed at times, especially when you ran away, knowing full well I could, and would, find you again."

Frost choked back his laughter; now that he knew just how strong Kaen was he didn't want to earn his wrath. Kat, however, had no such fear, and laughed freely.

Kaen just glared playfully at his mate, replying, "One: When Viola turned up I'd long since recovered. Two: Yes I knew you'd follow me, but I didn't think you'd catch up that quickly. And three: my 'thick-head', as you put it, has only become that way _because_ of your frequent attacks. I think I'm immune now."

Pi smirked at him, saying casually, "Well, that just means I'll have to use the stronger version." Frost shuddered at the thought.

Highly amused, Kaen replied, "Stronger version? I think you're bluffing..." He then smirked again, the half smirk, half cheeky grin he always bore as a child when he was either doing, or about to do, something that would get him in trouble with someone, usually her; and he wondered why his siblings were such terrors. He was just as bad, if not worse, than either of them when he was a kid, the only thing that made them worse was that there were two of them, but only one of him. With this expression firmly on his face, he finished his thought with, "...girl."

She shot a fierce glare his way before summoning up a hammer, not of energy this time, but seemingly of solid stone, before lashing out at him with it with a cry of "Baka." However, it went straight through the leftover image of him as he phased out, phasing in behind Frost. "Missed me-" he began taunting, only to get slammed from behind the second 'me' escaped his lips. True to her word, this _was_ indeed a stronger version; however, true to his word, he _had_ become immune to her original hammer, and thus this one didn't hurt him as much as it would have otherwise. Basically, they were back to where they'd started from, and he fell to one knee.

She stood behind him, arms crossed sternly, "You're becoming predictable. Besides, I have more to use against you than just the hammer now."

Hiding the pain well, Kaen just grinned up at her, that cheeky grin/smirk again, and said, "Was that supposed to hurt? I mean, it was a surprise, sure, but I've been hurt more by insects." Her glare hardened, and he just laughed and sped away, crying out, "Catch me if you can."

Frost watched in mild amusement as Pi sped after him. Even he could tell she wasn't really all that angry, and they were both just playing around, but it was amusing to see a pair of grown adults, and warriors at that, acting like a couple of children.

The two sped through the halls, Kaen randomly flinging weak blasts, and Pi dispelling them before they hit anything, but neither slowing. Finally, however, Pi grew bored of their game, and gave up chase, heading back to their shared room instead, and sitting down on the bed amicably.

Noticing their game was at an end, Kaen started heading her way, his mental voice semi-amused as he said through their bond, _"I don't suppose saying 'I'm sorry' will help me any?"_

_"That depends. What are you sorry about?"_ She replied in kind.

This time he seemed very amused as he answered, _"The same as usual, for making you angry, and for doubting in your abilities."_

She shook her head slowly, smiling all the while; however much she denied it, she had as much pride as he did sometimes. _"I always hated when you did that."_

His reply was swift and to the point, _"I know, that's why I did it so much. You always got stronger when you got angry."_

She was still smiling at the memories, and nodded a little, both gestures sent through their bond, before she mused, _"I really should punish you still..."_

He smiled again, replying good-naturedly, _"You usually do..."_

The mirth was hard to keep out of her message, but there was still a very real, very cruel undertone to it as she said, _"Like I said before, I have more to use against you than just my hammers now."_

He forced himself not to shudder at the thoughts that single statement conjured up; she could be very cruel when she wanted to be. However, as bad as he might have been at lying, he'd grown very good at bluffing - it was a useful skill in battle after all - and his bluff now was that or the man without fear as he replied, _"Well, I'm sure whatever you decide to do will be _fair_. I'd hate to think of you _abusing_ your powers..."_ He made sure to emphasise the important points, namely the words 'fair' and 'abuse'.

She shrugged, saying, _"Hardly, but let's see what my not sleeping by your side for a few nights will do to your attitude, hmm?"_ She smirked to herself.

He fought down two warring emotions, depression and amusement; amusement at the fact she'd try and use _that_ against him, and disappointment because, as loath as he was to admit it, he'd grown used to sleeping with her laying against him, and knew he'd never get any real sleep without her there. Eventually the amusement broke through as he responded, _"I seem to remember you chasing after me, not the other way around."_

_"And I remember how much you enjoyed leading me on,"_ she retorted.

He shrugged again; he knew that he was going to lose this little discussion, bluff or no, but he wasn't going to cave in and change his story now, not even with the love of his life. Instead, he just said without really thinking it over, _"Be that as it may, as much as I love you I spent twelve months without you, so I think I can survive a little longer if I must."_

And with that statement, he hit her right in her sensitive spot, seemingly without realising it, and making her melt and ache all at the same time. She blushed terribly, couldn't stop smiling, and grew quiet, as the same thought kept running circles through her head, 'He loves me.' Sure she knew it in her heart, but hearing him say it meant so much more.

Having taken his time getting there, their conversation taking much of his attention, he walked, at last, into their room, leaning against the doorframe. He had long since prepared himself for whatever she might do to punish him, and vowed to take it like the warrior he was. Noticing the distant look on her face, and bracing himself for his punishment, he said out loud, "Care to share those thoughts?" However, nothing he'd done could have prepared him for what she did.

She just walked up to him silently, causing him to stand up straight, and just wrapped her arms around him, laying her head against his chest and whispering, almost too softly for him to hear, "I love you too..." While inwardly shocked, and wondering where all this came from, he wasn't about to argue the point, just wrapping his arms around her and holding her close. And through all this, the Icebreaker sailed on through the darkness of space, ignorant of the two romances on board, towards its next destination.

End Chapter 11

To be continued...


	14. A Slight Detour part 1

--- The Phoenix Chronicles ---

Chapter 12 - A Slight Detour, Part 1 - Welcoming

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He stormed off back to the hotel, not noticing the people he barged aside as He did so. He did, however, notice how restricted the cast on his leg made him, and resolved to cut it off as soon as possible. But that wasn't the source of his foul mood. His ship was trashed; there was no other word that could quite describe the state of the ship his father built better than that. In fact, he was amazed it had managed to bring him here alive, assuming you counted the state he was brought here in 'alive'.

Regardless, it seemed he was stuck here until he could find a way to repair it; he wasn't even entirely sure about where here was. He also knew that, by now, he would have been reported as dead; in a morbid way, he admired how efficient they were at that. That meant that by now his parents, his siblings, and his girlfriend knew, or thought they did, what happened to him, and he had no way to contact them and tell them he was alright; the ships long range communicator was also fried.

'Perhaps it's best this way...' He thought to himself. 'I know that last guy survived. He'll be hurting but he's alive. That means, assuming he doesn't believe I'm dead, which I severely doubt, he'll be coming after me. I can't risk putting them in danger by getting them involved; this is _my_ fight. I'm... I'm sorry Pi... I'm sorry I'm breaking my promise to you... I'm sorry I'm not coming home...'

He tried to remember her face, her laugh, her voice, anything, but his memory seemed to be a bit fuzzy; he must've taken some serious head wounds. In fact, he found he had trouble remembering _any_ of his family, or much of anything that had happened before opening his eyes on this planet. The memories were there, and he praised the powers that be for that small mercy, but it was like looking at them through a fogged-up window. On some level this saddened him, but he knew he had to get over it; he'd left his old life behind, been _forced_ to leave it behind. He had to forge himself a new life. Still, that didn't mean he didn't miss his old life, and the people in it.

And through all this, the Saiyan warrior once known as Kapskaen, or Kaen, kept on walking.

He arrived back at the hotel, or, more importantly, the hotel's restaurant. It was decent enough in appearance - in his eyes nothing could compare to Vegeta-Sei, but that was beside the point - but the important thing was the smells coming from the kitchen. And while the cooking may not be able to compete with his mothers cooking - there was few, if any, anywhere that could - it smelled good enough. Besides which, it was free.

The place was fairly busy for late afternoon, but regardless, he found himself a table all to himself, large enough to seat four people; he would need the room. He sat there in silence for a fair while - the place _was_ busy after all, and there was only so much staff - but his patience was wearing thin. Fortunately for those present, before his anger reached boiling point someone came to take his order.

"What can I get you sir?" the man intoned as politely as you'd expect from someone worked off his or her feet.

"I don't think that pad's gonna be big enough..." He muttered to himself, but before the other man could comment he opened the menu to page one - the menu was several pages long, as the restaurant had to cater to the tastes of at least two dozen species - and added, "Well, for starters, I'll take everything on page one..."

"What? There's no way you could eat that much!" the man, Musuko as his nametag read, exclaimed, interrupting him.

"I wasn't finished!" He barked back, "I said that was for _starters_. After that, I'll take two of everything on pages three and four, one of everything on page six, and the first half of page nine."

"Sir, do you really believe you can eat all of that?" Musuko asked incredulously.

He just nodded, saying, "Easily. I've been asleep for three days now while my body recovered, and I need a lot of food at the best of times."

"Wait, you're that guy who crash landed here in that pod aren't you?" the guy asked.

He nodded again, replying, "That would be me, yes. Now then, to wash that all down, throw in five bottles of the strongest alcohol you've got here."

"Wait just a minute," Musuko interrupted again, "You look too young to be drinking, and besides which, my father was the man that treated you, and I know he wouldn't want you having any."

He reached up, grabbing the man's collar with his good left hand, holding the cast on his right in front of the man's eyes as he said, "You listen to me _boy_, unless you want one of these to call your own, you'll bring me what I ordered. And while I'm here I might as well say your dad's picking up the tab; he gave me three free nights at this place, all-inclusive. Now, I suggest you start bringing me my food before I lose my temper."

He released the man, who left to do as ordered, and before too long the first of many courses was brought out by a rather attractive looking waitress, who tried, rather unsuccessfully, to flirt with him. Several patrons looked at him, gawking at how much food was disappearing down his throat, and the rate at which it was doing so, but a glare directed their way turned them back around. All was rather peaceful, until five very stupid people entered the restaurant, and decided to rob it while he was there.

"All right, nobody move. This is a robbery. If you all just stay calm and co-operate, then no one will get hurt," one of the robbers, obviously the leader, stated boldly. He raised his gun for a moment as he added, "Ok, stay where you are with your hands up!"

Everyone in the place did just that, stopping where they were, either seated or standing, and dropping everything to raise his or her hands in surrender. All but one. He just sat there, continuing to eat his meal as though nothing was wrong. He did, however, use his right foot to slip his left boot off. The four robbers, minus the leader, began going around collecting valuables from those assembled, but the last man, a man simply known as Boss, walked up to his table, seemingly intent on finding out why he chose to ignore a direct order.

"Hey kid, didn't you hear me, I said hands up!" Boss said angrily. When he got no response - the guy's eating didn't even slow! - he became twice as angry with the 'insolent brat', throwing the table, which was, by now, less than a third covered by food, aside and exclaiming, "You listen when I talk to you punk!"

Boss finally got a reaction, but it wasn't the one he was aiming for. He stood up, jumping into an uppercut with his right, cast-covered hand, and, in one fluid motion, spun out his left leg, sending his now-projectile left boot flying at one of the thieves, kicking the chair he was sitting on into the air with his right leg, and, continuing the spin, kicking the chair towards a third thief with his left leg.

He finally landed, but no sooner had he done so than he was off again, leaping towards a fourth in a corkscrew motion, and backhanding him with his cast-covered right arm hard enough to severely crack the cast, not to mention the guy's skull. The fifth man was fast enough to raise his weapon and let off a few bursts of energy, but he merely raised his left hand and fired off several bursts of fire-like energy of his own, cancelling them out, before leaping towards him and kicking him harshly with his left leg, fracturing the cast on it in much he same fashion as he had the one on his right arm.

The second thief, the one who copped the boot to the head, recovered slightly, and managed to stand up, but it was in time to see him go racing past with his right arm out, catching the guy in a clothesline that almost collapsed his windpipe, taking him down for the count, and fracturing the cast further. Boss managed to shake the cobwebs off, having enough time to notice three of his boys down, and the fourth starting to pick himself up, before he received a hard jab to the gut, followed quickly by repeated front kicks to his now-lowered head which almost completely broke the cast off his left leg.

The third thief, and now the only one still standing bar Boss, raised his weapon and started charging it to fire, but before he could he leapt again, spinning gracefully in the air and launching his now-shattered cast off his left leg and towards the thief, catching him in the stomach, and, inadvertently, causing the man to shoot himself in the face, which, although not lethal, took him down. Finally, in the same motion, he swung at boss in a haymaker, catching him right on the left temple with his cast-covered right arm hard enough to reduce the until-now undamaged side to a fine powder, and knocking Boss out cold.

Seeing his foes down for the count he just pickedhis table up again, looking over at the still stunned staff and barking, "What happened to the rest of my order, hmm? Keep it coming." Then, calm as anything, he just walked over to one of the downed grunts, picked his boot up, grabbed a new chair, and sat back down at his table to put the boot back on, as if nothing had happened. Once that was done, he ripped the shattered cast off his right hand, and before anyone could comment it burst into flame, seemingly spontaneously, and burnt to ash. His left hand, however, was unburnt.

The onlookers were stunned, to say the least, but that didn't keep the kitchen staff from working, seemingly going on double time to ensure he got fed ASAP. One of the other customers, a fairly heavy set man, walked up to him with an impressed look on his face, laughing heartily before saying, "Well, that was quite a fight boy, and while injured too no less. I don't think I've ever seen anyone fight that well."

He looked up, a pride-filled smirk on his face, as he replied, "Thanks. However, you call me 'boy' again I may have to hurt you."

The man laughs heartily again, saying, "Very well. You got a name then?"

His smirk turned amused as he answered, "Everyone's got a name, but I didn't tell the doctor who saved my life, and I won't tell you."

With a grin on his face, the guy asked, "Then what am I 'sposed to call you?"

"Make something up," He shrugged. Turning curious, he continued, "Why would you want to call me anything? What do you want?"

The man's grin widened as he replied, "Why, you're the meteor man; you're famous around here, and it would be nice to have a name to put to the face. But that's not why I came over. I came over to ask for your help. As you can see, the crime is bad in these parts; you get enough people assembled, criminals seem to appear out of nowhere. I need someone to clear some filth outta Gamma sector, and reclaim the merchandise they stole from me."

His eyes shone at the thought of a fight, but his voice contradicted them by saying, "Sorry, I don't do favours."

The man laughed heartily once more before replying, "No one does. No, I wasn't asking for a favour, I was asking if you'd work for me. I'm willing to pay you half what I sell the merchandise for if you can recover it, plus a bonus two hundred gold for the defeat of the gang that has it."

His eyes shone again, and a smirk tried to form on his face as he mulled the offer over, before asking, "Let me get this straight. You're willing to _pay_ me if I kill some people for you, and pay me _more_ if I can get your stuff back, right?"

Another hearty laugh was his answer, "That'd be right. But I notice you had a couple of casts on before that fight. I wouldn't want you to injure yourself further..."

He snorted, interrupting the man with a wave of his perfectly healed right arm, and saying, "Please. I was asleep for three solid days, I'm in better shape now than I was before I was injured." Grinning ferally, he continued, "Alright, you've got yourself a deal. Where are they, and where do I bring the stuff when I get it?"

The man grinned back, saying, "Confident aren't we?" Pulling a piece or paper from one pocket, and a card from another, he handed both to Him, saying, "Here's the gang's name and location. And this is the location of my shop over in Delta sector. Just ask for Taro."

Taking the two items and pocketing them, he said confidently, "You'll have your stuff in three hours, tops. One for me to finish eating, one for me to recover your stuff, and one to find my way around this planet enough to find both the gang and your shop." He finished with a grin.

He watched the man walk away as his second course was brought to the table, and thought over what had just happened. 'So I'm a mercenary now huh? Well, I 'spose it's not too far off what I was before, only I can set my own price this time. There are worse ways to make a living for a warrior like myself.'

And thus began his new career.

o-o-o

The Icebreaker sailed through the darkness of space towards the next dragon ball, a new day already well under way. With no sun to regulate a day/night cycle, the ships computer takes charge of this duty, and it is currently the mid-noon cycle, when the lights are at their brightest. It is a peak work time, for most races anyway; most Neko-Jin, however, spend this warm time of the day napping, and this irregular means of controlling time is no doubt taking it's toll on the young Kat, as she... 'dutifully' watches over her console.

One eye half open, Kat sleepily looks around the control room, to see if anyone's watching. Frost seems to checking over the latest reports from intelligence, and thus not paying much attention to anything else, and Avery, for once, has decided to be elsewhere. Stifling a yawn, she turns back to her console, trying not to fall asleep, when something catches her fatigue-clouded mind's attention.

On her console, a black panel lit up silver, its red-etched text, in a language beyond her scope, blinking teasingly, making a soft blipping sound as it did so. Yawning again, she studies it for a moment, eyes still half open at the best of times. The panel remains it's shiny silver colour, the red text blinking on and off to the beat of the blips. She tilts her head to one side, her tired mind deciding that staring at it will make it go away, but the pattern continues regardless. With a final yawn she falls asleep, head landing on the console, and, ironically, the silver-lit panel.

The panel turns completely red, the blip becomes higher pitched for a short moment, and the ship suddenly takes a sharp turn towards a nearby star. Shooting awake the instant the blips pitch changed, Kat cries out, "What happened?"

Dropping his reports as the ship turns, and seeming to not hear her exclamation, Frost shouts, "What the hell?"

"I didn't do it," she replies instantly.

He began to punch the controls on his console rapidly, and without looking over his shoulder said, "The fastest way to be blamed for something is to say you didn't do it." Cursing softly to himself as he stared at his console, he turned to look at Kat and added, "Call everyone to the bridge. Now!"

Her sharp ears catching what he grumbled to himself, picking up a few new words to boot, she just grumbled to herself and growled, "Whatever..." before doing as ordered.

After the summons was made, everyone assembled on the bridge, disturbed from his or her tasks. Flute looked warily at Frost. Kaen, annoyed at having been disturbed, glared at everyone and everything bar Pi, who, in turn, lookeds at Kat for a moment from her position beside Kaen, before looking at Frost. Kat, for her part, just stood there with an air of innocence that seems to scream 'This is everybody's fault but mine.' However, noticing Pi's look, she chirped innocently, "What? You think I did this don't you?"

Pi blinked a little in surprise before responding, "No I was wondering why we were called here... Why? Did you do something?"

Shaking her head vigorously, she just chirped again, "Nope. Not my fault."

Flute was less than impressed, barking, "It doesn't matter who did what, what matters is that we are veering off course. I, for one, would like to know why."

From his spot against the wall, the newly arrived Avery called out, "I don't care what she says, Kat did something, and I'll be more than happy to beat it out of her."

Before anyone can respond, even the girl in question, Kaen glared at Avery and growled, "You will do no such thing, or else I'll rip your wings off _bird_!" Pi raised an eyebrow at this in question, but he had no answers to give; his over-protectiveness of Kat surprised even him, but it didn't wane any under her scrutiny, despite him falling silent.

Clearing his throat loudly to get everyone's attention, Frost asked, "Okay, are we all here?"

Viola, silent until now, just shrugged and replied, "Looks like it."

Frost nodded, cleared his throat again, and started. "Good. Yes, we are now off course, a new destination. From what I can gather, this ship has a function made to locate and follow Cold Empire planetary captures, so Frieza could be at the forefront of his expanding Empire; when he felt the need to get off his lazy ass, of course. Anyway, the point is we are headed straight for a battle zone, and what's more, this ship, and everyone onboard, are marked for immediate extermination by Cold forces. Of course, this must be done without damage to the ship itself; thank my brother for that one."

Raising an eyebrow, Kaen inquired, "So, basically, we're now heading straight towards men who'd kill us without a second's hesitation, who have orders to do exactly that?"

Frost nodded in confirmation, saying, "That's right. Just making sure everyone knew to get his or her game faces on. This is an opportunity to stop Frieza's forces from taking another world, and deal a good blow to him. As soon as we're done, we can be on our merry way."

An evil, and eager, smirk filled Kaen's features. He said nothing, but was clearly looking forward to it. Pi's mood seemed to mirror his, as did her face, albeit without the evil undertone to the smirk; she didn't have the same incentive to hurt the Cold Empire as he did, and, if he had any say in it, never would.

Flute's expression remained like stone as he said, "I will help you then. I'd prefer not to, but if we can leave faster, so much the better." Viola looked about as hesitant as she usually did before going into battle, but inside her emotions were far more balanced than Flute's were at the moment; then again, she didn't have as much riding on their mission as he did. 'Then again,' he mused, 'if my mission fails I guess hers will too...'

Looking at Frost, Kat piped up, "Are we gonna fight too?"

The Aisu nodded, replying, "Looking forward to stretching my legs. You can stay here if you like; no point in getting yourself hurt out there."

She glared at him indignantly, exclaiming, "Hey! I can take care of myself, and was doing so long before I met you!" Kaen just raised an eyebrow at her, much like Pi did him earlier, and like he had earlier she quickly shut up, but didn't look an iota less eager to fight. 'If I didn't know any better, I'd swear she's trying to prove herself to me, or something...' he thought to himself. He had no idea how right he was.

Frost slapped his forehead, groaning, "I didn't mean it like that!"

Raising her head defiantly, she stated, "I _will_ fight!"

Shaking his head in defeat, he replied, "I never said you couldn't."

A low clicking sound could be heard from Avery's direction, only audible to those with enhanced hearing, and even then only because of the silence in the room, as his gun slowly extended out it's casing, and he commented coolly, "Guess this means I get to shoot somebody today."

Shifting a little uneasily, Frost replied, "That you do..."

Smirking a bit, the Tori looked at Frost with emotionless eyes, and said, "What's the matter? Nervous? Or are you scared of me?"

Gulping quietly, Frost replied, "I've seen what that thing can do, and I feel no better knowing you'll be behind me with it. One near miss with that against me was more than enough..."

Avery just started stroking his gun almost lovingly. The others just watched the exchange between them silently, while Flute raised a single hairless brow, and Kaen muttered a low, "Oh... Kay..." There was obviously something in their collective past they'd decided not to share, for whatever reason; he knew almost nothing about what had happened to them before their chance meeting. 'Then again,' he thought silently, 'they don't know everything about the others either. Hell, I don't think there's anyone on this ship that knows everything about everyone; you're lucky if you've got the full story of two people beside yourself... Avery and Frost seem to know each others', as do Flute and Viola, and Pi and myself, and I'm the only one who knows much of anything about Kat... No one seems willing to share either...'

Unknowingly, he'd allowed Pi to overhear his musings, but thankfully she didn't comment on them. Instead, she decided to cut the tension a little, before it became thick enough to chew on, by asking, "How long until we get there?"

Shaken from his thoughts, Kaen nodded, saying, "Good question."

Nodding himself, Frost added, "Pretty soon, but I'm sure Kat can give a more accurate time from her console."

Looking down, and looking over her console a bit, she chirped, "Almost there. Won't be more than a couple of minutes now."

Frost nodded again, saying, "Well, whatever it is you'd like to do before we get there is up to you. Just do it now."

Kaen just started stretching a bit, already having had worked out already, and replied, "I was born ready lizard." Despite the normal insult, it lacked the heat you'd expect, instead sounding almost friendly. Of course, Kaen would never admit Frost was a friend if his life depended on it; Saiyans and Aisu did _not_ become friends.

Frost nodded once more as Flute left the bridge to get some meditation done, with Viola following his cue. Obviously, the Aisu picked up on the hidden meaning in the Saiyan's reply.

Turning to his mate, Kaen asked, "You ready?"

She nodded, saying, "Just need to change," before turning and leaving the bridge. He watched her leave intently, and couldn't help himself sigh softly as she left his sight; despite having a constant presence of her in his mind, he still missed having her by his side. Frost looked at Kaen oddly as he did so; after all, the cold, emotionless warrior sighing was the least thing anyone expected. As if suddenly remembering the others were in the room, the Saiyan spun around, fixing everyone present with a withering glare, before storming out; Kat just giggled to herself at the display.

Frost and Avery headed off towards the launch bay; it had been a while since either had seen actual combat. Kat headed off after them, but made sure to keep enough distance to not give them the wrong idea; she wasn't _following_ them, merely going the same way.

o-o-o

Within minutes, the Icebreaker was tearing through the atmosphere of the planet, drawing the attention of all those currently under the blue-green sky. All seven members of the group on board the ship were currently in the launch bay, making any last minute preparations. To save time, Kaen discarded his coat while still onboard, taking a moment to crack his knuckles.

Pi spent a few moments arranging her long dark hair in it's usual pin to keep it out of her face; she never liked the idea of cutting it short or braiding it, so that left this as the only option. She quickly knelt to check her boots, and then stood again to sit her armour over her torso properly, playing with the high neck of her body suit a moment; she decided against cutting this one low.

Raising an eyebrow in her direction, her mate asked, _"You right there?"_

She simply smirked, saying, _"I didn't want to distract you."_

He smirked in kind, sending her a few distracting images of his own before replying, _"Fair enough..."_

She kept a cool look, trying very hard not to show how said images were effecting her, and leaned up to brush her lips against his cheek, but no sooner had she done that the ship jolted, making it more than clear they'd landed. The bay doors opened and light from outside flooded in, mid-morning by the looks of things. Around the area the ship had landed lay dozens of space pods, their passengers not far off.

Smirking broadly, Kaen dived out first, showing off a little as he leapt into a corkscrew, followed by flips, etc. until he landed, and immediately began searching for anything that so much as resembled a threat. Pi wasn't far behind him, and Kat not far behind her. Flute discarded his cloak and followed, and Viola did the same. Frost and Avery brought up the rear, and by that time the entire Cold invasion force had amassed around them, gazing incredulously at the Icebreaker, and a murmur of the name 'Frieza' passed through the onlookers.

Kaen appeared relaxed, gazing impassively at the assembled troops, but only if you could call a coiled spring relaxed. Kat, after observing his stance, tried her hardest to copy it, but couldn't quite get it right; she still got the message across, however.

After a moment Frost cleared his throat, and, using a loud voice such that all assembled could hear him as he levitated slightly to gain their attention, declared, "As some of you may know, I am not Frieza, I am Frost, his former lieutenant. Most of you are here because the Cold Empire brought your home world under submission. I ask you to stop doing his work for him, and not to enslave other worlds in his name. Join me, and we can bring Frieza to his knees." With this, a second murmur shot through the crowd.

Kaen just mumbled sarcastically to himself, barely audible over the murmuring of the crowd, "Oh yeah, that'll work..."

In response, Pi jabbed him lightly, by Saiyan standards anyway, with her elbow, and 'said, _"You never know."_He just rolled his eyes and grumbled to himself again; it was obvious that he'd be disappointed if it did work.

A single being stepped out of the crowd, a blue skinned creature that, to Kat's eyes at least, was too familiar for comfort, whose armour markings declared him the leader of the invasion forces. Stopping a pace or two in front of the assembled troops, he spoke, seemingly for them, "Well Frost, your offer is good, but the bounty Lord Frieza put on your head would be more than enough, even divided, to make us all stinking rich, not to mention what your friends are worth. Gonna make a better offer so we don't kill you?" Obviously, this being figured that, with higher numbers, the odds were stacked in their favour, and never once stopped to consider _why_ the bounty was so large.

Frost simply shrugged, landing and silently triggering the internal workings that caused his transformation, before replying, "The offer is a simple matter I'm afraid. Join us, or die." If the assembled troops were to have looked at the Saiyan male present, they would've probably wet themselves at the evil smirk on his face.

Suddenly, without any warning whatsoever, a feint blue burst of light shot past Frost's head, missing by inches at most, starting behind him and streaming through the group towards the crowd. No sooner did it disappear than six members of the invasion force collapsed, the gaping, still smoking holes straight through their chests showing that the beam of light was anything but harmless. Lowering his gun, Avery, who fired the shot, looked very self-satisfied, and Frost couldn't help but shudder a little at how close the shot had come to his head.

Pausing a moment Frost gave a short cry, and transformed into his second form; while it may have been a lot less dramatic than Frieza's first transition, the results were much the same. In the moment of confusion caused by his transformation he launched his attack, a ball of blue ki in his raised hand, with a cry of "Hail Storm!" A deadly barrage of light blue ki blasts fired from this larger ball, the one in his hand decreasing with each shot, and shredded through no less than ten of the invading party where they stood.

Smirk still firmly intact, the thought _"Watch this."_ came through the bond moments before Kaen began his attack. At first, from the motions he was making it seemed he was using his trademark Inferno Blast, but at the last second his ki made a sudden spike, the flow into the blast doubled, and with a cry of "Chaos Inferno!" a massive gout of flame, in a beam almost four metres in diameter, fired from his hands, the destructive forces detonating, and taking seven grunts instantly, leaving another five writhing in the burning pyre, and leaving Kaen with a smirk that was about as self satisfied as Avery's.

Pi raised her hands above her head, collecting ki, and through them down with a cry of "Gaia Disruption!" sending the blast into the ground below her. Without warning, the ground under the soldiers erupted, blasts of ki firing straight out of the earth, but unfortunately not hitting anyone. It did, however, leave twelve of them disoriented by the ensuing quakes. Pride shone through the bond as Kaen said, _"Not bad,"_ but she just smiled wryly in return; despite his praise, she knew she could do better, and knew _he_ knew that as well.

Flute drew his right hand back, making a throwing motion with a cry of, "Vapour Grenade!" and hurling a hazy green ball of ki which landed amongst their foes, causing a sudden explosion of searing heat which claimed seven more lives as the green ki flames drew all the heat from their bodies. Kaen fought to keep from gaping, just keeping his smirk instead; he had to admit, even if it was only to himself, he was impressed with the Namek's skill with techniques.

Raising her arm, and creating a greyish-white thunder ball, Viola hurled it towards the enemy with a cry of "Static Field!" the single ball exploding into four separate blasts, each pinning one of the grunts to the ground before he's overcome by the electrical energy, and fall still.

Kat, the last to attack, drew her hands back, a black ball of ki forming in each, and threw them forward with a cry of "Night Shade!" Unfortunately, much to her chagrin, only a single warrior was enveloped by her blast of dark ki; however, where the blast died down, there was nothing left of him.

Out of the remaining warriors, none of which have yet had a chance to retaliate, five more were caught in the raging red flames of Kaen's Chaos Inferno, and another three fell victim to the lingering death of the green flames of Flute's Vapour Grenade. When both flames died down, there was but a single warrior remaining out of the original army.

Frost's grin widened as the last remaining troop of the invasion forces, after taking a moment to look around at what was left of the corpses of those he'd come here with, began to whimper and plead for his life; he had, after all, just seen the entire team bar him slaughtered in less than a minute, and, while most, if not all, Cold Empire troops would die if ordered to fight to the death, they, like he, rarely _wanted_ to die.

A bored look on his face, Kaen turned away from the survivor, facing the others and calling out, in a voice loud enough that even the soldier heard him, "Who wants the left overs?" This comment only served to make the man twice as afraid, and send both Pi and Kat into a fit of quiet giggles.

Avery raised his gun, taking aim at the man, but before he could fire Frost waved him off, saying in a slightly booming voice, the result of his transformation, "Let me take care of this." The Nameks remained silent as Frost slowly walked up to the guy, to draw out the fear, but inside both of them were glad it was over. Reaching the man, Frost picked him up by the collar; now that he was a good foot or two taller he loomed over the man. When the two were face to face he said, in an eerily quiet voice that caused more fear than a shout, "Tell Frieza that his days are numbered." This said, he threw the man into a nearby space pod, punching in the co-ordinates for the current Planet Frieza in himself, and slammed the hatch shut, watching as the ship blasted off, and left the atmosphere.

Kaen watched the ship with a grin on his face, fully intent to blast it to smithereens should it even appear to be turning around, but he severely doubted it would; unless his eyes were deceiving him, the guy had wet himself, and with good cause, he might add. Pi just stretched a little, saying, "That was a good warm up."

That grin still on his face, Kaen nodded, replying, "Yeah, not bad. It's a shame it was so short though, I was looking forward to a good, long, fight."

Frost nodded once himself before saying, "Well, no matter, we can be on our way soon enough, now that's done. However, I'd like to sweep the planet first, to make sure there aren't any other parties that landed."

Kaen's grin turned into his trademark Saiyan smirk as he replied, "With pleasure."

Paying the Saiyan's eagerness no mind, other than filing it away for later, Frost continued, "By the looks of things, it was probably a scouting party, but Frieza sometimes deploys several forces at different points planet side. Instead of looking blindly, we should find the locals, and see if we can pick up anything from their local network about invading parties."

Kaen just nodded again, wrapping an arm around Pi's waist before saying, "Lead on."

Flute, silent until now, interrupted, "I don't think we need to find them. It would appear they have found us." He indicated the nearby forest line, where several pink-skinned aliens, with large eyes and ears, watched them intently. Kaen didn't so much as flinch at this revelation, but he did make sure to watch them for any potential trouble, as did, seemingly, Frost and Viola. Kat tried her hardest to imitate Kaen's relaxed mood, but only got it half right.

One of the taller aliens knelt before them, his voice amazingly humble as he said, "Thank you, saviours. The ones you defeated had destroyed an entire merchant caravan without mercy. We fled, and they would have come after us too, if you hadn't arrived."

Kaen just shrugged, as if he got this reaction everywhere he went; and truth be told, he _had_ gotten this reaction on at least a few occasions. Waving it off, he said, "All in a good day's work really."

Still on it's knees, the being gestured towards the forest and added, "Please, come with us to our village. It is not far, and we can offer you food and rest for saving us." Kaen's eyes lit up at the mentioning of the word 'food', but he made no comment.

Frost scratched his head a little, unsure of how to deal with the situation - he'd never been in it before, after all - before turning to look at the others, saying, "Any objections?"

Flute turned to regard Viola, his eyes silently asking for her opinion before he'd make his, but she just shrugged in reply, responding just as silently that she didn't care either way. Similarly, Avery shrugged, shook his head, and muttered, "Whatever..." Pi nodded her assent quickly, as did Kaen, although his was a tad more enthusiastic.

Frost waited patiently for everyone, but, seeing as she wasn't paying attention, he called, "Kat?"

She blinked quickly, surprised that her opinion was being asked, and, still not over the shock, just replied, "Oh, sure, okay..." in a dazed voice, before returning to her previous thoughts.

Frost just nodded, ignoring her odd behaviour - she could hardly be considered normal at the best of times - and said, his voice directed at the kneeling being, "We accept. Please, lead on."

The alien nodded and stood up, saying, "My name is Nu'riah. I am the mayor of the village. I ask you to please feel welcome," before they began the short journey to the village.

o-o-o

No sooner had they entered the forest were they immediately inside the 'village', which in itself was seemingly a part of the trees, and nature around it. Looking around excitedly, Kat cried, "Cool!" Flute and Viola looked equally impressed in their own way, but, of course, neither of them were quite so energy about it.

Looking down at the ground, Pi remarked, "These flowers are very pretty."

Without looking around, moving his head, or even twitching, Kaen replied through their bond, _"They've got nothing on you though..."_ Given the speed of the reply, it wasn't immediately obvious whether this was an idle thought, or an actual message to her, but never-the-less she leaned up and kissed him on the cheek for it. Finally looking around he smiled down at her before stopping for a moment to pick one of the flowers, the one that, in his opinion, looked the nicest, and thread it in her hair, causing her to giggle softly and kiss him again. Kat tried her hardest not to look jealous at the display, and mostly succeeded; it seemed to be getting easier the more time she spent around them.

As the group continued walking through the village, it became suddenly apparent that, despite the appearance of the aliens they'd met earlier, that their guides were the male of the species, and the female variation was equivalent to very pretty women, only with larger than usual eyes. Frost couldn't help but grin at them, but all too quickly he realised that he was still in his less-than attractive second form. He took a small vial from a concealed pocket under his armour (unlike Frieza, he felt no need to break it when he powered up) and swallowed its contents. With a sharp gasp he reverted to his initial form, and, coughing a little to regain his composure, continued walking.

Muttering mostly to himself, Kaen said dryly, "I always wondered how they did that..."

Nu'riah ushered them into a larger hall, where most of the villagers seemed to be gathering. They were all looking at the odd party of adventurers, as an unusual silence settled upon all those assembled.

Looking around, Kaen said through the bond, _"Looks like they've seen a ghost..."_ but before Pi could form a response, a cheer rose up, everyone making a good deal of noise for their saviours. Frost was more than a little caught off guard, as was Kat, who looked around awed, but Kaen just seemed to take it in his stride, like this sort of thing happened every day; actually, truth be told, it _had_ happened a few times, he couldn't remember the exact number, but that was beside the point.

Pi, despite feeling about as awed as Kat looked, managed to keep her composure, and a confident smirk, while the ever-stoic Nameks looked as implacable as ever. And as for Avery seemed to be concerned, he could have walked into an empty room.

Nu'riah raised his hands to hush the crowd, and as they fell silent he began his speech. "As the tree have told us, these are our saviours, come to save us from the ones who would destroy us all. Let us prepare a feast worthy of them all!" With that the hall was filled with activity, as everyone moved for side doors to prepare for the festivities.

Frost interjected with, "The trees told you?" Despite his questioning tone, there was a hint of scepticism.

Nu'riah nodded, either missing or ignoring said scepticism as he replied, "We can see with the trees, those near and far. The trees are our brothers."

Frost managed to keep his decorum, despite the thought of being brothers with trees making him want to laugh, as more important issues held his thoughts, which he voiced, "Would you be able to tell us if any others might be on the planet, like those we destroyed? If there are, we can stop them, before they do any damage to your homes."

Nu'riah nodded thoughtfully, mulling it over before responding, "It is possible, but to get news from all over the globe would take a week. We are more then willing to allow you to remain here, if that is what you wish saviour, while we wait for the news to arrive."

Frost nodded slightly and turned to Flute, saying, "Since you seem to call most of the shots with this deal, can we put off your hunt for a week? The final decision is yours, but I'd prefer it if we made sure Frieza didn't leave any surprises behind."

Flute paused in thought weighing the options in his mind. A quick glance at Viola showed that, while her face was, as usual, blank, her eyes spoke volumes in the silent way of communication the two shared, telling him it was his decision, and his alone. He was torn between his quest to save his home, or staying to help theirs; either way there was a chance he'd be sacrificing one world to save the other. Deciding to take the risk, and praying his wasn't dooming his people, he answered, "Very well, we can stay."

Frost nodded and turned back to Nu'riah, saying diplomatically, "We graciously accept your hospitality. Though I must give you fair warning..." He made a quick glance at Kaen and Pi before continuing, "Our Saiyan counterparts could eat an entire feast of their own, each, and I would not like to put your supplies at risk." Kaen had the gall to grin, refusing to take offence, but Pi was less than impressed, and not as adept at hiding it, instead shooting Frost a slightly indignant glare.

Nu'riah simply shook his head, saying, "You needn't worry, the trees also foretold your companions appetite. We are well provided for, I assure you. I only hope you find our meals nourishing."

Frost had to fight to keep from saying 'I'm sure they'll eat whatever you put out; in fact, I'd be surprised if they even tasted it...' He succeeded, but it wasn't without a great deal of effort; he bit his tongue hard enough to draw blood.

Nu'riah clapped his hands softly, and when a young maiden appeared he said, "Are the rooms ready?"

She nodded, turning to the group and saying in a delicate voice, "Please follow me." That said, she turned away and walked out towards a second building, no quite as large as the hall itself, but still a fairly large building compared to the others in the village.

Frost followed her eagerly, perhaps too eagerly. Kaen just pulled Pi closer towards him, both because he liked holding her close, and as a way to ward off any of the potential 'watchers' he knew he acquired on every planet he went to, as he followed. Flute took a moment to offer Viola an arm, which she happily accepted, a slight smile on her face, before the two followed. Kat followed after the two couples, trying both to hide her jealousy, and to ignore Avery, who walked behind her, gun still withdrawn.

They were lead to an inn, where rooms were provided for them. However, being that, when they did get guests, there weren't a great many, the inn was fairly small, and only had four rooms available, something their female guide apologised profusely for the inconvenience of.

Kaen just grinned again, still holding Pi close, and silently saying that, even were there enough rooms for one each, the two still would have been sharing one. Similarly, Flute and Viola seemed not to care either way about sharing a room; the two didn't sleep, after all, only meditated, so sharing a room didn't hurt them any. Kat, however, seemed less than impressed at the thought of having to share a room with either of the males left, and immediately began demanding to have a room of her own, and for Avery and Frost to leave her alone.

This, of course, meant the remaining two members of the group, Frost and Avery, were forced to share the last room. Avery just shrugged; he didn't really care either way where he slept, and he'd just as soon sleep outside as in. Frost, however, were more than uncomfortable at the thought of having to share with Avery - spending time with Avery made him remember his past, and those were far from pleasant thoughts - but he hid it behind a mask of annoyance; actually, the mask was fairly easy to don, seeing as how he _was_ annoyed at Kat, and the scene she was making.

Kaen took notice of Frost's discomfort, however well he tried to hide it, and made a note of to ask him later as the group claimed their rooms, Kat and the Saiyans on one side, and the rest on the other, before they, as a group, headed back to the hall, engaging in feasting and festivities until the day drew dark.

End Chapter 12

To be continued...

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Author's notes:

You'll notice in the flashback sequence at the start of the chapter that, aside from a single mentioning, I never use Kaen's name, using 'he', 'him', and so on. The main reason for this is because he never uses his name, except when thinking to himself, thus I decided it would be easier to do what I did, rather than trying to work out different ways of calling him 'the mystery man,' and I'll continue to do so. Besides which, unless you haven't been paying attention to the flashbacks in the previous 9 chapters, you should know who he is anyway.


	15. A Slight Detour part 2

--- The Phoenix Chronicles ---

Chapter 13 - A Slight Detour, Part 2 - Hostilities

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He scowled to himself, absently fingering the sling his left arm rested in. He knew that the arm would be fine again by morning, but it was an annoyance nonetheless. He'd gotten cocky on his last job, and that lead him to be careless, meaning one of the undeveloped, unevolved, barely-conscious pond-scum that made up the criminal world of Ichiba-Sei had managed to wound him, all because he didn't realise the guy was there. Life was so much more difficult without a scouter.

That thought made his scowl deepen; the fact that he was so dependant on a device rankled him. It made him no better than Cold's weaklings... His scowl lifted slightly as he realised something. Many of Cold's troupes couldn't actually form ki blasts themselves, so they had devices on their arms to _allow_ them to attack with their ki. Potentially, this meant that a scouter just made up for the lack of a natural ability to detect people's power levels, and if so...

He sat down cross-legged on his bed, and, with a sigh, forced his body to relax, as he stretched out his mind for an answer to his problem. While he'd never been very big on meditation when he was younger, he did know the 'how' and 'why' of it, and had partaken in meditation between training sessions some times; if his memory served him, anyway, which it often failed to do nowadays.

The room was the one he'd been given in the hotel when he first arrived, but he was paying for it himself now; he _had_ been on the planet for over a week now. Fortunately, his new career payed well, as the merchants were willing to pay quite a bit to be rid of the criminal element; 'a small price', they all said, 'for not having to deal with crime anymore'. Often, the amount they paid him was in excess of what the crime would have cost them, if only because it was a one-off charge that was, in their eyes, worth paying.

He was paying his way in the hotel day-by-day, because he had no way of knowing when, exactly, he'd have to leave. Of the rest of his pay, quite a bit was spent on food, as, being a Saiyan, he required quite a bit, but the amount was lessening; he was slowly training himself to run off less food, for those times he knew he'd have to go without. Almost all the money he didn't spend on food was going on repairing his ship, and that was doing the repairs himself; he knew he'd never be able to afford having someone else repair it. There was, of course, the occasional extra expense, like the thus-far one off purchase of a new outfit: a black bodysuit, boots, and gloves, with a set of red torso armour, and, completing the set, a red headband, and black trench coat; weighted, of course, to aid in his training.

Suddenly, he was torn from his thoughts, as his meditation started to bear fruit; he could... feel, something on the edge of his senses. Focusing his hearing, he picked up sounds coming from the room next door; the guy living there having an argument with his 'lady friend' for the day. Turning his head in that direction, but keeping his eyes closed, he could, for lack of a better word, 'see' a dull yellow glow, and a slightly more vibrant one, through the wall. He smiled to himself; it seemed that there _was_ some truth to his theory after all.

He smiled to himself in satisfaction, as he slowly counted through the pay from his latest job. His new technique, which he dubbed 'ki sensing', for lack of a better term, proved to be most useful; while it wasn't perfect - yet - it helped keep him one step ahead of the competition, and that was all he really needed. The last job had gone off without a hitch, and, while he wasn't confident enough in his sixth sense yet to say he could have done the job blindfolded, he was getting close.

"Uh, excuse me mister?"

His musing was interrupted by a small voice, belong to a small child, that was looking up at him with big eyes. Trying not to scare the boy, he asked, "What is it kid?"

Fidgeting a bit, the boy asked, "Uh, is it true you're a phoenix?"

"Where'd you hear that?" He asked, curious.

The boy shuffled his feet a bit, replying, "I, uh, heard some of the dock workers talking about it."

"And do you know what a phoenix is?" He himself didn't, but he wasn't about to admit that, so he decided to test this kid's knowledge, and satisfy his own curiosity at the same time.

Nodding, the boy replied, "Yeah, uh, they said a phoenix was a bird of fire that appeared to help people in need. They said that a phoenix is immortal, and if it ever gets killed, it simply rises from the ashes, reborn again. They said that you were a phoenix in human form. Are you?"

He grinned; he liked the sound of that. Reaching into the bag that held his most recent pay, he pulled out one of the gems; a ruby, and fairly large at that. Crouching down, he took one of the boy's hands in his own, placing the ruby inside, and saying, "Thanks for the story kid." With that, he started to walk off.

"Wait mister!" The boy called out, without having yet seen what he'd given him, "You didn't answer-"

"Yes, kid." He replied, turning back to the boy, "My name is Phoenix. Spread the word." With that, he was gone; as such, he didn't see the boy's eyes almost fall out of his head when he realised what he was holding.

o-o-o

The sun dawns on the unknown planet the crew of the Icebreaker landed on, marking the start of a new day. Much of the previous night was spent eating and celebrating with the local sentients in their forest village; a general celebration of being alive after the destruction of the initial Cold Empire invasion forces. With a new day comes a new challenge, and as the sun begins it's lazy trek across the sky, bathing the village hidden in and amongst the forest at the foothills of the mountain range, seeming to stretch as long as the mountains themselves, it's occupants, both permanent and temporary, know this new challenge is, like the sun, just across the horizon.

For now, however, said occupants seem to be taking it easy, as if enjoying this moment of peace while it lasts. The Saiyan warrior Kaen, taking a break from his usual routine of training and eating, simply relaxes in the shade of one of the large trees, his better half seated in his lap, resting her head against his chest and absently playing gently with his tail, his arms around her waist.

The Namekin Viola meditates silently a short distance away, also in the shade of one of the great trees, but her male counterpart is nowhere to be seen; his ki can, however, be sensed further off in the mountains. The Neko Kat currently rests on a tree branch some 20 feet above Viola, fast asleep, her arms hanging on either side of her impromptu bed, but her self-appointed enemy Avery is, like Flute, nowhere to be seen; his ki can be sensed travelling aimlessly through the forest.

The rebel Aisu Frost seems to have embraced his role as 'saviour and protector' as he wanders around the village warily, almost daring anyone to try and attack; in his fight against the Cold Empire he's taken a very serious air. Laughing quietly to himself as he watches the Aisu, Kaen mutters, "He's really milking this hero thing for all it's worth isn't he..." 'Then again,' he mused to himself, making sure to block the thought from Pi, 'I've done the same before.'

Elbowing him softly in the ribs, Pi shot back, "Maybe he doesn't like seeing people get hurt, especially those who can't defend themselves... like a certain someone I know."

Raising an eyebrow, Kaen replied mock-seriously, "Me? I'm not that bad surely?"

She just grinned, saying, "He takes what he does seriously."

"A little too seriously if you ask me."

She giggled in response, saying, "Yes, almost as seriously as any dedicated Saiyan. I never expected to see it in an Aisu, especially one related to Frieza."

He grinned, "Can't say I ever expected to spend time with _any_ Aisu."

Her playful grin intact, she commented, "Yes, and who would expect you to actually start liking one."

He raised an eyebrow in mock offence, "What gives you that idea, hmm?"

She shifted slightly to look into his eyes, before replying, "Well, you aren't muttering about causing him an imminent death as often as you used to, and not quite so seriously." Her smile started to bare her teeth a little.

He shrugged as best he could from their position, saying disinterestedly, "Haven't been in the mood."

She shifted back to her previous position, giggling to herself again, "You always were a pathetic liar."

Sighing dramatically he replied, "That I was."

She tilted her head up to kiss him on the chin, before giggling to herself again.

Smiling again, he continued, "I found it much easier to say nothing rather than lie. People will always make up their own minds anyway, regardless of how you answer." Laughing a bit, he added, "Besides, it's funny to hear some of the answers people come up with."

Curious now, she prompted him to continue by saying, "Like what?"

"Everything. How strong I was, how old I was, _what_ I was; would you believe the people of one planet thought I was the current avatar of some ancient guardian they believe in? Hell, even something as simple as my name. For safety reasons I never told anyone my name during my travels, or why I wouldn't, and you wouldn't believe some of the things people call me, and the reasons why I didn't tell them."

She grinned a bit, marking off her fingers as she listed, "Phoenix, bastard, 'that damn Saiyan', monkey, brute..." She added contemptuously, "hottie..."

Ignoring that last one for his own safety, he grinned a bit himself and replied, "Those were some of the more popular. I've lost count of all of them." 'I must admit,' he thought to himself, 'I _did_, and do, like the sound of 'Phoenix'; a legendary bird of fire that can never be killed, always rising from the ashes again. It's a nice thought, never being able to be killed, although I 'spose I've already 'risen from the ashes' a couple of times...'

Unbeknownst to him, he'd accidentally allowed Pi to overhear his musings, but she made no comment on them, instead continuing from their previous topic. "Those are some of the common ones I heard while following your trail. The last one came up more often than I would have liked..." She then added quietly, "Although, I can't say I really blame those who said it..."

Overhearing her quiet remark, he leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Why thank you." She blushed a little, elbowing him again playfully, by Saiyan standards anyway; the 'light blow' would have probably been more than enough to crack the ribs of most other races, if not worse. He just pulled her closer, chuckling quietly to himself.

Continuing his walking patrol, Frost approached the group, stopping by Viola and clearing his throat before saying, "Do you have any idea where Flute is? I'd like to speak with him." Seeing that Viola wasn't about to break from her meditation anytime soon, Kaen just raised his right arm and pointed in the direction he sensed Flute's ki, but said nothing. Raising a hairless eyebrow, the Aisu asked, "How do you know that?"

Deciding he couldn't be bothered explaining in detail, the Saiyan powerhouse just replied, "Just do."

Frost just shrugged, "Whatever it is, I'd like to learn it. It seems useful. Anyway, any idea how far?"

Raising an eyebrow, Kaen said, "See the floating mountains?"

Looking about, Frost _did_ in fact see a couple of the smaller mountains floating a bit off the ground, and a slightly awestruck look hit him as he muttered in a dazed voice, "Wow, never seen that done before..."

Nodding once, Kaen just said, "There," before closing his eyes and going back to his relaxation.

He just shrugged again, "I guess I'll take your word for it."

A _very_ small smile flitted across his face as, without moving a muscle, he replied, "You do that."

Nodding once, the Aisu took off in the given direction, Pi watching him fly off before saying, "Flute's letting off those ki spikes that blew up the training bots. I hope Frost doesn't try anything overly stupid..."

Kaen just opened his eyes again, looked down at her, and shrugged, before replying with a hint of a smirk, "I dunno, that _would_ be rather amusing to watch." She just shook her head, looking in Viola's direction, as she seemed entirely undisturbed by everything. The woman in question seemed oblivious of the attention, the extra training methods Flute showed her helping to block out all outside distractions, as she floated a few inches off the ground, eyes closed.

Returning from whatever it was he was doing, Avery remarked dryly, "Well, aren't you lot full of energy." Pi turned to face him and simply blinked; she wasn't totally aware he'd gone, let alone come back. Her other half seemed no better off, having to suppress a startled jump at missing both his departure and return, before shrugging in dismissal. Kat's reaction, however, was far more colourful, as, startled awake by the intruding voice, she leapt awake and almost fell out of the tree, catching herself with her claws and pulling herself up; in her tired state, she seemed to forget the fact she could land on her feet safely.

Looking up at the young Neko, Pi couldn't help but giggle a little, which caused Kat, now sitting on the branch again, to alternate her glare between Avery and her, a look ruined by her yawning widely. For her part, Pi remained ignorant of Kat's glare as she went back to scrutinising Kaen's tail to some degree; try as she might, Kat's glares were far from intimidating unless you were a male who was being particularly lecherous.

Chuckling dryly, Avery said, "What's the matter kitty? You look tired."

As tired as she was she apparently missed the jibe, just mumbling, "Didn't get much sleep last night. Those two kept me awake all night." She inclined her head towards the relaxing Saiyan couple. Yawning again, she added, "They were loud enough to wake the dead, and were at it for _hours_. I'm surprised they didn't keep the whole village awake, let alone that you got any sleep." In her tired state, she also seemed to miss just how blunt she was being.

He just shrugged, saying offhandedly, "I could sleep through a quake," as he looked at the Saiyans out of the corner of his eyes. Pi was wearing a smirk as smug as she could bare, a look that clashed with her rising blush, and Kaen had a mirroring smirk, minus the blush; obviously he felt no need to be embarrassed about their nightly activities.

The catgirl just yawned once more before lying down again to get some more sleep, and, seeing as how his favourite verbal punching bag was out of commission, Avery just sat down quietly and started cleaning and reloading his gun, dotting on it as much as normal people would a small child.

"Wow, he's social..." Kaen mumbled sarcastically to himself.

"About as socially appealing as a head-cold," Pi replied just as quietly

Nodding once, he broke out into quiet laughter, "And people call _me_ blunt."

She poked her tongue out at him, "I must be spending too much time with you."

"Gee, we wouldn't want that now would we..." he mumbled to himself. The sarcasm was so think you could almost taste it. She promptly shut him up with a kiss, a gesture he accepted easily, holding her close.

The peace in the forest was suddenly, and rudely, disturbed by a fairly substantial shuddering of the earth. Breaking the kiss, Kaen didn't so much as blink in surprise, simply remarking, "Wow, that was unexpected..." Kat, however, was far less composed about being shocked awake again, this time actually falling from the tree before she managed to catch herself with her ki in mid air, upside down, and with her face just inches from the ground; apparently, she'd _lost_ her ability to land on her feet due to sleep deprivation.

Avery just chuckled dryly at her again, commenting loudly enough for everyone to hear, "Well, that was graceful."

For the first time since she'd started, Viola broke from her meditation, and, upon noticing that Flute had dropped the mountains, which had, in turn, caused the shockwave, merely said, "This can't be good."

Pi just raised an eyebrow, offering, "Frost?"

Kaen groaned, but the words that came out of his mouth weren't what you'd expect, "Dammit, we're missing the show."

Pi just elbowed him again before getting up, saying, "They could be in trouble."

Sighing, and muttering something like, "It'd serve him right..." under his breath, he stood himself and said aloud, "We'd better go and check on them then." The five of them were in the air within moments, Avery bringing up the rear, as they headed off towards Flute's mountain training ground.

o-o-o

As they neared, several smaller ki signatures became evident, as well as the fact Flute's level had dropped a decent amount from his norm. Upon finding Flute and Frost, it could be seen that Flute had discarded his cloak and mantle, and Frost had changed into his second form. Kaen just growled, "I hate leftovers..." as they approached, forming blades of black fire over both his hands.

Wasting no time, Flute prepared an attack, launching it with a cry of "Inferno Grenade!" and incinerating four of the remaining fifteen grunts. Frost was ready with his own attack moments later, the icy blast piercing another's heart with a cry of, "Ice Beam!"

Without a word Kaen sped forward, lashing out at a pair of grunts as he shot past with his ki blades, and dispatching them fairly cleanly; well, truth be told, the dispatching was fairly messy as they fell apart, but that's beside the point.

Kat threw her hands back, forming a blast eerily reminiscent of Kaen's Inferno Blast, and fired it with a shout of "Darkness Wave," but, in her fatigue-clouded mind, her aim was way off, and the blast runs wide, ending up blowing a hole in a semi-distant mountain, and causing her to curse softly to herself as her eyes hung low, sleep threatening to pull her under again.

Viola, like those before her, wasted no time in attacking, destroying two with her Static Field attack, but a third managed to evade. Pi raised both hands above her head and chose her targets, launching her attack with a cry of "Titan Fury" and turning both into a fine red mist.

Avery simply smirks as he raises his gun, the malleable weapon shifting form into what appears to be a rocket launcher. Saying loudly, "Fire in the hole," the gun fires, proving, for once, that appearances are not _always_ deceiving, as it does indeed fire a rocket, the explosion catching three of the remaining four grunts, the last of which rushes at Flute blasting wildly, one such blast catching Flute in the arm badly, before the man is met by the Namek's other arm in a cross chop to the neck which, by the snap, seems to have broken several bones, and sends the man flying directly through a nearby cliff face.

Viola surprised herself by rushing to his side and asking worriedly, "Are you ok?" despite knowing that, with his regenerative capabilities, he would be. He just nodded slightly, before taking a moment to examine his arm; the muscle was shot through at the joint, meaning that the arm was now, for all intensive purposes, useless. Gritting his teeth, he promptly tore it off at the shoulder, causing the non-Namek females to wince, the younger of the pair also gasping in shock, and the Saiyan male raising an eyebrow in silent question of the Namek's sanity.

Flute seemed oblivious to their reactions as he ground his teeth harder, looking very strained, even going so far as to growl audibly, before, without warning, a new arm burst free from the mutilated stump he'd left, with a small spray of purple blood and a small shout escaping his lips. Kat gasped once more as she jumped in shock, Pi looked more than dumbstruck, and, in keeping with his usual silent expressions, Kaen's other eyebrow rose, changing his look from one of question to one of shock.

Frost merely nodded slightly as he watched Flute flex his new hand, giving it a quick examination to ensure it turned out right, but Avery seemed as impassive as always, as if he saw a man regrow a limb every day; then again, Avery _never_ showed any signs of _anything_.

Flute was the first to break the awkward silence that had settled on the group after his little display, commenting, "It would appear you were right Frost, there are more of them."

The man in question looked towards the horizon, in the direction facing away from the village, before replying, "They seem to be in groups of about forty or so. Not too hard to beat, but it's more than obvious we can be overwhelmed if not too careful." Flute nodded solemnly, unconsciously holding his newly regenerated arm.

Kaen just smirked a very Saiyan smirk, saying, "Bring it on."

Pi spoke up, "We should probably head back to the village; maybe news has come in?"

Frost nodded a little, "You all head back. I'll scout around a little, let you know if anything comes up."

"I'll go with you, make sure you don't do anything stupid." The words had left Kaen's mouth before he'd realised what he was saying, or thought about why he was saying them. He justified his actions in his mind as just an instinctual desire to be there when and if a fight started, despite knowing it wasn't the full truth; although he'd never admit it, not even to himself, he did consider Frost something of a friend.

Frost just grinned, "I'm not as irresponsible as you Saiyans." His words carried more humour than contempt.

Raising an eyebrow, also with semi-obvious amusement, Kaen replied, "That a fact? Then care to explain why you decided to take on a group with the odds stacked fairly heavily against you, and why Flute now looks rather worse for wear as a result?"

Snorting, the Aisu replied, "Decided? I didn't think even you Saiyans were thick enough not to notice the fact we were ambushed, and with Flute already tired out after his training, the forty-odd strong party managed to do a fair amount of damage before you guys arrived to mop up the stragglers."

Still with his eyebrow raised, Kaen fired back, "Ambushed huh? So what makes you think that there won't be anymore that try the same thing, with similar results, and you without backup this time?" Almost as an after thought, he added, "Oh, and you call my stupid again and I may have to kill you." The words lacked the heat he was going for.

"That's why I said I wanted to scout the area, see if there were any more to flush out, and a small party is harder to find than a large one, as if that wasn't obvious." He then added, with a great deal of mirth, "The only thing you could do to kill me is set your girlfriend after me; she's ten times more threatening than you'll ever manage."

Pi took that as quite the compliment, smirking in a quite satisfied manor, but Kaen just growled to himself, deciding against continuing the argument; disputing that final point would just make Pi angry with him, and as loath as he was to admit it, in their verbal jousts Frost was the stronger.

Ignoring their banter, Flute glanced quietly at Viola, giving her a reassuring nod and a slight smile, a gesture she reciprocated just as silently.

Barking a laugh, Frost took to the air, speeding forward slightly before pausing, turning back to Kaen and saying, "Are you coming or not?" before speeding off again.

With a vicious growl, Kaen blasted off after him with a violent burst of speed, and a shout of "I'll kill you!"

Pi watched as Kaen sped after Frost, giggling a little to herself, "He's so cute when he gets angry." Kat, joining her in giggling, managed to catch herself before letting slip she agreed. Knowing Pi's opinion of his 'groupies', it probably wouldn't have gone over well; she'd met a few herself in her travels, and was also less than impressed.

Flute used his ki to retrieve his cloak, but, finding it in tatters, merely discarded it, commenting neutrally, "I could use a drink."

Without thinking Viola picked up to the discarded cloak, using her abilities to transmute it fixed again, and unconsciously increasing the weight, knowing, on some subconscious level, that it was reaching the point of being too light for him. Handing it back to him, she replied, in a similar tone, "Same." He took the now-fixed cloak with a slight nod and an even slighter smile, putting it on and offering her an arm, a gesture she accepted.

The moment was ruined, however, when Kat exclaimed, an awestruck look on her face, "How did you do that?"

Pi nodded as well, adding, "And that thing with your arm!"

Flute looked at them and blinked a little, as if just noticing the two were still there; he'd noticed Avery fly off out of the corner of his eye, and figured these two had gone with him. Viola seemed just as surprised, and inwardly scolded herself for the mistake; she'd been paying so much attention to him, and so little attention to anything else, that the pair could've been ambushed easily, and she wouldn't have known until one of them got hit.

Breaking the silence, Flute explained with a dry tone, as if saying that stones were hard, "Nameks are able to regenerate lost limbs with ease. As long as our head remains intact, we can regrow everything else."

Kat, picking up on his tone, huffed, "Well how were we 'sposed to know?" Her only reply was a single raised eyebrow from the stoic Namek, and, realising her statement wasn't having the desired effect, she dropped the look an merely started pouting sullenly, not realising she was acting like a child that didn't get his/her own way.

Pi kept her gaze on Viola, asking again, "How did you fix his cloak like that? If I knew how it would make fixing Kaen's clothes so much easier for me!"

Viola simply shrugged in response, saying, "It's just something I discovered I could do through my meditation; I can change one thing into another. I haven't tested the limits of it yet, but in theory I could make things from nothing but air. I'm not sure if others could learn, but I'll never know unless I try."

Pi nodded as if she understood, and Kat just continued pouting. Seeing nothing worth hanging around for, Viola started floating, gesturing at Flute as if to say 'follow.' As he started to do just that, he couldn't help but ask her in a voice loud enough to be heard without it's intent being obvious, "Were you ever like that?" gesturing at Pi and Kat as he said it.

With a hint of an amused look on her face, she sighed semi-dramatically and replied, her voice just as loud, "Kami I hope not, I really do." A smirk slowly started to spread on his face as well as the two began flying off.

Pi, having overheard this, was far from impressed, and her expression showed as much from the glower she directed their way as she followed, and Kat, flying along side her, tried to match the look, and while she was getting better, she still wasn't quite there. And as they flew back to the village in silence, the group now split in two, the sun reached its peak in the teal sky; the day was only half over, and their troubles had only just begun...

End Chapter 13

To be continued...


	16. A Slight Detour part 3

--- The Phoenix Chronicles ---

Chapter 14 - A Slight Detour, Part 3 - Power Trip

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Phoenix licked his fingers, having just finished off a monumental feast in the eyes of the restaurants other patrons; in his eyes, it was lunch, albeit a fairly heavy one. Today was the day. Today, he would fire his ship up, finally completely repaired, and leave the planet that had heralded his rebirth. He didn't know when he'd be on world next, so he needed to make sure his body was properly fueled up; hence the heavy lunch.

It had taken a month to repair his ship, including the upgrades he'd made to some of the systems, but he believed he could have gotten it done faster if he hadn't had to work; of course, if he hadn't worked, then he never would have been able to afford the parts to repair and upgrade it, so it was a moot point. In that month, he'd made quite a bit of money, and had managed to tone down his eating habit enough to actually save some. Now, he only needed one big meal a week, and the rest of the week he could do fine without; not to say that he liked going a week without, but he wouldn't be left powerless if he needed to.

In that month, he had managed to reduce the crime rate in Ichiba-Sei to nothing. Zip. Zero. There was absolutely no crime at all left across the entire planet, which was quite a feat for the largest trading hub in the entire Northern Quadrant; he surmised that he'd either killed them all, or they were too afraid to commit crimes, lest he be sent after them, but either way sat with him just fine. In any case, it was time he left.

As he headed towards where his pod was stored, he noticed something that set his blood afire. A Cold Empire scouting party, a mere four large, wading through the crowd, showing the occasional person something on a palmtop display device. One of the Delta sector merchants, spotting him, quickly grabbed him by the arm, spinning him around and drawing him close, whispering into his ear, "They're after a man fitting your description Phoenix. None of us have said anything so far, and we won't, what with all you've done for us, but it'll only be so long before one of the tourists drops something. You've got to get out of sight."

Phoenix just smiled, although it didn't reach his eyes. "Don't worry friend, I'll handle this. Just take care of yourself and your family, you hear?" The man nodded and rushed off quickly. Growling, Phoenix flared his battle aura, shouting, "Everyone, clear the area!" The crowd fled, well used to events like this taking place, although several of the tourists remained. Rounding on the scouting party, he growled again, "You want me? Well here I am!"

He blasted towards them, shattering the pavement as he launched off the ground, and drove his fist clear through the head of the first scout before the group could react. Ripping his hand out, he spun around with a ki-packed kick, bisecting one of the other scouts, before continuing the motion and leaping into the air, using his other leg for a spinning back kick, snapping the neck of the third. Fearfully, the fourth scout began to back away, but he was faster. Phasing in directly in front of the guy, Phoenix drove his hand, fingers extended, into the man's gut, his hand coming out the man's back, severing his spinal cord.

With his opponents taken care of, the bloodlust faded, and he realised what he'd done. He'd lost control. He'd let his rage dictate his actions. He growled again; he'd made a mistake. Focusing ki through his left hand, he set about disposing of the bodies, ignoring the cries from the two still alive, albeit dying; this would just make their deaths quicker. Evidence destroyed, he noticed the group of tourists watching, horror painting their faces, but not preventing them from snapping pictures.

With one motion he spun around, firing small blasts from his fingers, and obliterating all camera in his line of sight, before taking off in a sprint. He'd stayed in one place for long enough for them to track him down. It was past time he'd moved on.

o-o-o

The sun began its descent down the blue-green sky, marking the beginning of the end of the current day. Upon arriving back at the village, four of the five members of the group had instantly settled back into their relaxed state. Kat was, once again, trying to catch up on her sleep; sleep was a biological need for Neko's, more so than other races, and not only was noon an important nap time, missing an entire night of sleep would have, and had, thrown her system for a loop. Flute and Viola had returned to their silent meditation as soon as they'd landed, and Avery had returned to tending for his gun. It seemed everyone was perfectly happy to do nothing; everyone bar one.

Pi had always hated this time of the day, despite it being one of the times meals were enjoyed; she never really liked the idea of anything beginning to draw to a close. Today, however, her uneasiness was worse, and she had this terrible sense of foreboding. She'd only ever felt like this once before in her life; ironically, it had also happened around this time of day. It was the day Kaen's mission had gone sour, if her calculations were correct, and this little fact didn't help her mood any. Feeling more than a tad anxious, she said, "I'm gonna try and catch up with Kaen and Frost," taking off almost before finishing the thought.

Avery watched her fly off without a word, and as she left, Flute opened his eyes, saying worriedly, "I hope that was a cluster of warriors I sensed."

Viola, also opening her eyes, added, "Should we follow?"

He paused in thought, before replying, "I think they'll be fine without us. That cluster would be pretty large, like the others, but I think Kaen himself wouldn't break a sweat."

Kat, half asleep, murmured, "He'll be fine. He's fought groups that large on his own..." She trailed off as sleep took her again. In fact, the transition between awake and asleep happened so fast it was hard to tell if she was even awake at all, or just talking in her sleep.

He nodded slightly, thinking it over a moment longer before saying, "If it were a single warrior I'd be more worried."

"He should still be alright," Viola said sagely, "He _has_ got that really powerful form after all."

"Frost is there too, and he seems to still be holding back," Flute added.

Nodding once more, she closed her eyes again, returning to her meditation with one final comment, "They'll be fine." She just wished it didn't sound so much like they were clutching at straws.

o-o-o

The pair in question were currently flying low over the mountain range, which seemed to stretch almost all the way around the planet, and thus were a fair distance away from the village. Thus far, their search had turned up empty, but before too long Kaen sensed a large collection of power a short distance off, and started grinning to himself, saying, "Well, looks like this won't be a wasted trip after all."

"What do you mean?" Frost asked, looking about to see what had got the Saiyan warrior so excited, but finding nothing out of the ordinary.

Pointing, he replied, "There's a large energy source that way. Looks like we've found us another squad."

"How in the name of Kami do you do that?" There was a hint of annoyance in his tone, and another of wonder.

Grinning again, he replied, "I'm good." His response was a flat stare, so he dropped the grin and amended, "Alright then, it's a skill I taught myself when I didn't have a scouter to rely on."

"Will you show me sometime?" This time, there was a hint of hope in his otherwise bland tone, still slightly booming, due to Frost still being in his second form.

Kaen just shrugged, saying, "We'll see."

Shrugging in kind, the Aisu replied, "Can't ask for more than that," and the two headed off towards the energy signal in silence.

o-o-o

As they clear the rise they could see, in the valley below, only a few scattered soldiers, not nearly enough to constitute the size squad they'd encountered thus far, meaning one thing - Frieza had brought out the big guns this time. An eager grin on his face, Kaen asked offhandedly, "Shall we surprise them, or make ourselves known?"

"Surprise is best, as least until we know what we're up against." Saying this, Frost floated over to land on the edge of an overlooking cliff to get a better, making sure not to be seen, and Kaen wasn't far behind.

"Well then, let's see what we're up against..." he mused quietly.

In the valley below were only about a dozen warriors, their armour marking them as fairly high class, but one stood out from the rest. His armour had different insignia from everyone else, and his large hulkish body, stupid grin, and shock of red hair were only too familiar to Frost, who began to curse in Aisu-Go. While he didn't know the words, Kaen could guess what many of them were, and he commented wryly, "That good huh?"

Cursing once more Frost spoke again, this time in Basic, "His name is Recoome; he's a member of the Ginyu Force." When Kaen himself cursed, he added, "It gets better; he's their powerhouse, second in strength only to Ginyu himself."

With a sour look on his face the rebel Saiyan warrior muttered sarcastically, "Well... isn't this wonderful... I thought I knew that armour from somewhere..."

With a sour look of his own, Frost asked, "Ok, any ideas?"

Nodding vehemently, Kaen replied, "Yeah. I say we take it to the max. I know he's supposed to be strong, but I also know you're holding back a lot of power; don't ask how I know, I just do. Together we should be able to take him down, and those other's shouldn't be a real threat unless we let them."

Nodding in agreement, Frost commented, "Yeah, but if I transform now they'll know something's up. My transformations may not be nearly as dramatic as Frieza's, or take nearly as long, but it still takes time. Think you can keep them off my back until I'm done?"

He grinned his usual feral grin, "I think I can manage that."

"Alright."

Turning serious, Kaen added, "You ready?" Frost just nodded, standing up and beginning the change, as Kaen shed his coat and moved silently into a better position to begin his diversion. The troupes below must have been as tired as Kat, however, and their scouters must've been broken, because they noticed nothing, not even Frost's change to third form and continuation into fourth and final, until Frost was enveloped in a bright light, marking his final transformation, and Kaen landed silently in front of them, exclaiming cheerily, "If I knew we'd be having guests, I would've prepared a party!"

The grunts didn't waste time on words, instead choosing to rush the Saiyan powerhouse en masse; Recoome, however, waited where he is. 'Well, this works out nicely...' Kaen muses to himself as he clenches his hands, spiking his ki dramatically with a cry of "Rage Pyre Fury 10!" before jumping skywards, holding his hands out and shouting, "Firestorm!" His attack launched roughly twenty-four blasts, enough to vaporise them all twice over, and leaving a fairly substantial impact crater.

Recoome began to laugh heartily, his nerve-grating laugh, before saying in his nasal voice, "Well, well, well, looks like the monkey here might be a challenge after all. Not to mention you Frost. Frieza will reward me well when I bring your sorry carcass back to him, along with the ship you stole."

Kaen's right eye began to twitch around the word 'monkey', and Frost just shook his head, replying, "Sorry Recoome, not this time."

Laughing again, Recoome stated, "Yeah, you'll be sorry alright. You should have never crossed Frieza."

Falling into stance, Kaen just growled, "Bring it!"

That nerve-grating laugh was back as Recoome said, "Okay monkey boy, since you are so interested, you first. Recoome Crusher!" Saying this, he charged down on Kaen with speed you'd think a man of his bulk couldn't achieve and used a hammer blow, charged with ki, to send Kaen flying into a cliff-face, and causing it to collapse in upon him. Seeing that was done, he turned to the other, adding, "And now for you Frost. Recoome Kick!" He sent a high-speed kick towards the Aisu, but Frost managed to dive out of the way before it hit.

Roaring in anger, Kaen erupted out of the debris with an explosion of power, speeding towards Recoome with blades of dark flame at the ready. However, in his anger, he got sloppy, and the walking mass of muscle easily evaded his wide attacks, saying, "Nice try monkey boy, but no dice!" before punching him in the side of the head, sending him sprawling, but otherwise mostly unhurt. He did, however, provide a nice distraction for Frost to land a kick to the side of Recoome's head, but the blow didn't even seem to faze him.

Getting back to his feet, still growling, Kaen commented sarcastically, "Oh yeah, _this_ was a good idea..." Crouching down slightly, as he began to focus his power, he clenched his fists and closed his eyes, crying, "Alright! That's it, no more games!" His voice rose to a shout as his power began rising, "It's time to show you my true strength!" With that he concentrated, bringing forth the dark memories and negative emotions still all too fresh in his mind, and ascending to his golden avatar of destruction with a flash of light. Before the flare had fully faded Kaen took advantage, raising both hands in front of him and charging a ki blast in each hand, firing both with a cry of "Twin Nova!"

The ensuing blast razed the entire area, leaving it desolate, but when the flames died down Recoome was still standing, his armour all but gone, his hair and skin singed, but otherwise, seemingly unharmed. Laughing again, he remarked, "That was a nice one monkey. I always wanted a tan!"

"A tan huh?" Kaen growled, his voice lower than before, but his exhaustion beginning to show; it was obvious to those who knew where to look that he couldn't properly control this form, and was bleeding energy as a result. Fortunately, Recoome _didn't_ know where to look.

While he was distracted, Frost attempted to attack him from behind with a kick, but apparently Recoome was expecting the move, dodging the blow at the last minute. However, what he didn't expect was for Frost to follow up with his rather thick tail, and thus, he was caught in a fairly solid blow from the appendage that promptly sent him flying into a mountain side. Landing, Frost panted out, "Damn ape... No offence." It was clear Frost wasn't used to his current form either, but, as his was more biological, he was having less trouble.

"None taken." Kaen replied, as they collected their breath and waited for Recoome to dig himself out. "I must say, he's tougher than I gave him credit for..."

Before Frost could reply, Recoome was back, pulling himself out of the hole, laughing all the while, before saying, "Well, it's nice to have a workout for once - So few people can keep up with me! - But I think it's time to end this. Eraser Gun!" This said, he fired off his trademark attack.

With a curse, Kaen jumped in front of Frost, raising both his hands, and, with a cry of "Heat Shield!" a dome of red energy erupted around the two of them in time to meet the pink blast. In the end, however, it was not enough, and before long the shield shattered. Kaen caught the brunt of the attack, knocking him well and truly out of his golden state as he barely held on to consciousness, but despite his efforts Frost wasn't spared any injury; he did, however, only cop the tail end of the blast, but that was still enough to render his left arm useless.

Kaen struggled to pull himself to his feet, groaning, "Ouch, yeah, that kinda hurt..."

Frost pulled himself up moments later, and, noticing his arm hanging limply at his side, mutters, "Damn this." Collecting some of the last of his energy, Frost shot into the air, raising his good hand above his head, index finger outstretched, and, in a similar fashion to his half-brother, focused his ki into a point above said finger, launching the massive ball of blue-white ki with a cry of "Avalanche Death Ball!" As the ball descended on it's target, Recoome moves to get out of the way, but this time he's not fast enough; he himself spent a lot of ki in that last move, and was yet to recover. He did avoid the majority of the blast, but got caught in the resulting explosion.

Seeing Recoome dazed, but not out, Kaen stood on shaky legs, drawing both hands behind him as be began to gather energy for one final attack. Within moments, every bit of energy he had to spare was ready to fire, and he muttered, "I just hope this is enough..." before throwing his arms forward with all the speed he can muster, fusing the two ki balls in front of him. But the strain of holding this single, highly concentrated ball of ki soon became more than his battered body can handle, and the energy dissipated harmlessly, and with it went his strength, as his legs gave out, sending him onto his hands and knees. Clutching his chest with one hand as he gasped for breath, he panted out, "Damn... I never thought it'd end like this..." His last act before he collapsed to the ground, succumbing to the darkness, was a message to his mate. _"I'm sorry..."_

o-o-o

_"I'm sorry..."_

The message rang loud in her head, and then all was silent. Less than a second passed between his collapse and her arrival into the once-valley, and the first thing her eyes fell upon was the unmoving body of her bondmate. She immediately rushed to his side, crying fearfully, _"Kaen! Wake up Kaen, I won't let you leave me, not again, please wake up... please don't leave... please... I love you..."_

Silence was her only answer, and not the silence of someone who chooses to ignore what they hear; the silence of someone not there to hear at all. Subconsciously, she knows he still lived, because the bond they share was still whole; were he to die, it would be shattered, and her psyche along with it, but her mind was clouded with the image before her. She bowed her head, her vision blurred, but not from the forming tears; from the sheer amount of rage now flowing through her veins.

"I'll make you..." An aura burst into life around her, flickering between the deep forest green that was her norm, and an eerily familiar bright golden yellow. "I'll make you pay." Her eyes began flickering between their normal black and the teal Kaen's were only moments ago, her hair undergoing a similar change as the bands holding it in place snapped, her hair beginning to stand on end.

With a final burst of energy, the change was complete. Pi, like her mate before her, had changed, reaching a plateau of strength hither-to unknown. Her eyes slowly swept across the clearing, before coming to rest on the subject of her ire; a certain red-haired wall of muscle, that had the _gall_ to laugh!

Fear. That's all Frost could feel as her gaze swept past him. No, fear wasn't a strong enough word. Even terror didn't feel right, but it would have to do, and he wasn't even the target of her fury. Slowly, so as to not catch her attention, Frost began moving away from Recoome and towards Kaen; he was safer there, so long as he didn't make any sudden movements.

Recoome, however, either didn't notice the white-hot rage in her eyes, or was too stupid and overconfident to pay it much mind. Still laughing, he remarked, "Too bad monkey girl, your boyfriend there tried the same trick, and it didn't help him..."

She didn't let him finish, and he was abruptly cut off by a flying kick to the midsection, knocking the wind out of him. His peanut-sized mind had barely had enough time to realise that he'd never even seen her move, and to come to the quick conclusions that her blow hurt, and maybe he _wasn't_ stronger, but had simply got lucky with the other one, when a second blow, this time to the jaw, sent him flying uncontrollably through the air, ironically winding up crashing into an open space pod.

She began collecting ki for her next attack, but before she could really get started Frost, who had arrived at Kaen's side, and used the all-of three seconds in which she KO'ed the lumbering brute that had been smacking both him and Kaen around like rag dolls, to check for a pulse, and, finding one, called out, "He's alive, but he needs help right away! He's fading fast!"

Forgetting the attack, forgetting Recoome, and forgetting practically everything else that wasn't Kaen, she sped towards her mate and picked him up, thinking aloud, "Flute can heal him, I know he can!" and speeding off without another word. Thinking quickly, Frost sped towards the pod Recoome had crash-landed in, and his suspicions were confirmed; the man was out cold. With a heavy conscience, he decided against finishing the man off. Instead, he punched in new co-ordinates, and sent out automated commands to the entire invading forces to pull out and return to base. With one final command, he stood back, watching as the ship blasted out of the atmosphere, and after the ship was out of sight, sped after Pi with all the speed he could.

o-o-o

Pi landed in the village at such a speed she seemed to appear out of thin air, and, after gently setting Kaen on the ground, she unceremoniously dragged Flute over to him, demanding, "Heal him!" Such was her speed, it wasn't until _after_ this command had reached his brain, along with her appearance, had been processed, and was being carried out, that the sonic boom of her approach reached their ears.

Viola, slightly shocked at hearing her friend's voice, was startled out of her meditation when the shockwave hit, and her eyes widened further at seeing her appearance; she remembered that look, she remembered it all too well. Kat was also startled awake, but this time she was rested enough to be able to spin in the air and land safely on her feet. Upon taking a few seconds to notice everything, she gasped, "What happened?"

"We ran into one of the Ginyu boys," Frost answered as he landed a short distance away.

Gasping again, she squeaked, "The Ginyu Force? Here?" She may not have ever seen them herself, but she'd heard stories. Viola paled; it seemed she'd heard stories too; even Avery couldn't keep his composure.

Shaking his head, Frost amended, "Only Recoome. Kaen and I put up a decent fight... Pi really sent him flying though... Uh, if it's not too much trouble, could someone do something about my arm? Not quite like the Nameks..."

Looking at his arm, Viola said apologetically, "I don't have that power, sorry..."

Flute didn't look up from his work, simply supplying, "Kaen will take a little time, can you wait?"

Frost just nodded, "No problem." His injury wasn't life threatening, merely highly annoying; he knew Kaen was a higher priority.

Looking over Pi once more, Kat had to repress a shudder. Like Viola, she remembered this form - this was the form that made her feel about as strong as an ant in comparison - and, if Kaen's pain-filled screams were even an iota of what he had felt that first time, she also knew that Pi must be really torn up inside now. Hurrying over to her, she said, "What happened to your hair? It's yellow, just like Kaen's went..." She trailed off; she was trying to get Pi's mind _away_ from depressing topics.

It seemed to work, as Pi only then noticed the large mass of golden hair atop her head; there was so much of it, the force of gravity was greater than the unknown force that caused it to stand on end in the first place, and much of it still hung down behind her. Looking at it with a small amount of disbelief, she replied, "I... I don't know..."

Nearly bubbling with excitement on the outside, but inwardly hoping Pi was alright, Kat exclaimed, "It looks so cool!" Pi, however, didn't feel nearly as much enthusiasm, giving only a small smile, before turning to watch Flute heal her mate.

Without stopping his work, Flute looked up at Frost, and after taking in his new appearance for a moment, commented, "Pi isn't the only one to make a change... that form is certainly different from your other two..." Finally noticing Frost's appearance for the first time, Kat gasped once more, and inwardly scolded herself for not noticing before, but she was too concerned for Pi.

Nodding, he replied, "I don't think I've ever had to fight something strong enough that I needed this form before, but seeing as how the Ginyu's have a nasty habit of keeping a sore tooth about being beaten, I might just have to stay in it for a while... saves time. Besides, it'll be nice not to instantly remind people of Frieza..."

Avery cast a cool eye over the new look, before nodding once in approval; looking like that, the birdman could almost forget who he was related to. Nodding a bit herself, Viola commented, "That may be wise."

Looking between Pi and Frost almost frantically, Kat prodded, "What about Recoome? Is everything okay now?"

Frost nodded, saying, "Don't work yourself into a frenzy, he won't wake up for a while now I reckon, and when he does, he'll already be halfway back to Planet Frieza, and the rest of the invasion forces with him. I set the commands to withdraw, so they'll all pull out. When a planet offers this class of resistance, they just black mark it and move on, so unless Frieza decides it's better off to wipe it out completely, it's safe now."

The catgirl sighed in relief, "That's good."

Standing, and stretching out his shoulders, Flute said, "He'll wake up soon. But he'll be hungry." Kat sighed in relief again before she could stop herself.

Smiling quickly in thanks, Pi dashed off immediately in search of ingredients and cooking utensils. However, she returned moments later, grabbing Viola and Kat, and dragging them off, offering, "I'll need a hand!" as reasoning.

Once they were out of sight, Frost smiled weakly, commenting, "I can't say I envy them..." and causing Avery to bark a dry laugh. Flute moved to heal him, and within moments his arm was as good as new; as tired as Flute was from healing Kaen from the brink of death, he didn't have the strength to restore the Aisu to full strength, but that could wait until he'd healed on his own.

Nodding his thanks, he picked up the unconscious Saiyan and went to move him to rest against a tree, ironically the same tree he'd been resting under earlier in the day, and saying, "He came at us pretty fast, and I don't think Kaen is too used to his new form, otherwise he wouldn't have been beaten so easily; I know what he's capable of, and just how strong that form is."

The man in question awoke slowly, being moved enough of a trigger for his return to the world of the living, but he just held his head and groaned, "Ugh... Remind me not to do that again..."

"'Avoid walking hulks of testosterone', gotcha, wrote it down, and I'll pin it to your shirt for good measure." Frost grinned, and the other two males each bore their own version of a smirk.

Groaning again, Kaen replied dryly, "Right, laugh it up shitkicker. If I wasn't so sore, I'd wipe that grin off your face, and turn you into a new pair of boots."

Avery barked another laugh, but the Aisu just said, "Save your strength... I think you'll need it..."

Raising an eyebrow, he opened his mouth to reply, but his stomach beat him to it. Flute just grinned and shook his head, as he watched Pi return at high speed, promptly throwing herself at him in a tight hug as soon as she saw he was up, saying in a voice that showed she was bordering on tears, "Don't ever scare me like that again. I swear, if you do that again Kaen, I'll have Flute revive you so I can kill you myself..."

"You say that like I meant it to happen. Getting my arse kicked by a walking wall of muscle wasn't on my to-do list for today," he replied sarcastically.

"You're supposed to be better than that," she replied wryly, her emotions now back under control, and sounding more and more like the Saiyan warrior she was.

His reaction, however, wasn't the usual affirmation she expected of him. Instead, he sighed, replying softly, "I know... I don't know what happened..." His tone had a hint of remorse to it, but if anyone picked up on it, they remained silent.

She just buried her head in his chest, murmuring, "It doesn't matter now..." Pulling away a bit, she added, "What does matter is that lunch is ready."

He sighed once more, muttering, "I'm getting soft..." before putting it out of his mind for now, adding out loud "That's good. I feel like I haven't eaten in days." She just smiled and helped him up. Once he was on his feet again, he shot a glare at the others, a look that conveyed the message 'Don't you dare say a word, or so help me...' very clearly. Flute's expression remained as stoic as ever, as did Avery's, and Frost adopted a very bored look. With another satisfied glare, that clearly said 'Good, keep it that way' he let Pi help him off.

Once they were out of sight, Frost's face broke out in an amused grin, a look that was close to being mirrored on Flute's face. Chuckling a little himself, Avery remarked dryly, "I wouldn't let him see that. He seems rather... edgy."

Flute nodded sagely, saying, "The thing that got hurt the most out of that conflict appeared to be his ego." Frost only voiced his agreement with a short laugh.

With a slight grin that looked odd on his averian face, Avery nodded his agreement, replying, "Judging by his mood I wouldn't say it was the first time either."

Flute nodded, "Yes, I did manage to beat him once, and it had the same result then as it did now." He didn't give the anecdote any real closure before he walked off to find Viola. Frost gave a mildly annoyed look at Flute's back, and Avery simply shrugged, before the two of them set off after him.

o-o-o

The eating area set out by the locals was in a bustle, as local women hurried about bringing Kaen his lengthy meal, and taking away the used dishes, under the ever watchful eye of a still blonde Pi. Kat and Viola, both looking exhausted, were sitting off to one side, out of the way of the steady stream of servers.

Despite having seen it several times now, Viola couldn't help the disgusted look that found it's way onto her face; Kaen was eating so fast you'd swear he didn't have enough time to chew, let alone taste anything, before it was gone and something else had replaced it. Kat just tried to avoid noticing the sheer amount of food that was disappearing into his black hole of a stomach; she was only partly successful.

Flute simply moved to Viola's side, and Frost and Avery wisely chose to look _away_ from the gorging. Through all this, however, Pi had a smile firmly entrenched on her face. Forcibly turning away, Viola muttered to herself, "I don't think I'll ever get used to that..." Her voice was quiet enough that were the room quiet, all bar Flute would have had trouble hearing her.

"Indeed," he replied solemnly, in the same volume.

Before too long, the line of incoming food dwindles to nothing, and the eating, if you can call it that, draws to a close. With a single belch, and a "Ah, that was good." Kaen falls silent, obviously not in the mood for conversation. As if this were some secret trigger, Pi's hair and eyes return to their normal black; obviously, the last of the tension had left her now that, in her mind, he's well and truly all right again.

Standing up, Frost made a short announcement, "The invaders are gone, and I think it's best if we join them." The other's nodded their agreement, all bar Kaen, who, other than standing to support the exhausted Pi, made no indication he'd even heard the announcement. And with that they boarded the Icebreaker, blasting off the lush green planet, and continuing the search for the remaining three Dragon Balls.

End Chapter 14

To be continued...


	17. Shattered Pride

--- The Phoenix Chronicles ---

Chapter 15 - Shattered Pride

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Phoenix sighed to himself, as he dispatched the his foes with ease. He had left Ichiba-Sei close to a week ago, and had just been passing by the planet he currently stood on when he overheard a Cold Empire transmission, and noticed the swarm of space pods descending upon the planet. Apparently, this was to be the next world they were going to conquer. Phoenix, however, had other ideas. Quickly changing the trajectory of his ship, he'd landed on the planet not long after the Cold Empire raiding troupes had begun, and he'd set about stopping them. By force.

He'd only been here a matter of minutes, but already he'd killed or maimed no less than twenty people. 'Just how weak are these people', he mused to himself, 'that they would send weaklings like this to deal with them?' Obviously, the people of this planet, whose name he'd missed in the transmission, weren't considered a big threat, or they would have seen more than shock troupes. He was amused slightly to notice the denizens of the planet were cat people, but he put it out of his mind for now; right now, he had Cold Empire soldiers to kill, and a planet to save.

Suddenly, he noticed a 'buzzing' ki from somewhere to his left; that was the only term he could think of to describe it. It was clearly agitated, and the 'frequency' of agitation shouted one thing to him; it was afraid, and deathly so. Spinning to face the direction of the ki, and absently batting a few blasts back at their owners, he spotted the person; a girl, with green hair, sitting in the middle of the road, staring at the tall tower in who's shadow she sat. Following her line of sight, he quickly spotted the cause for her fear: a cluster of soldiers, destroying the ground level of the building.

As he started to race over, he noticed, out of the corner of his eye, the building start to topple in her direction, and, if he didn't get her out of the way, she'd be crushed. When he reached her, he quickly saw why she hadn't simply run: she wasn't just sitting in the middle of the road, her legs were trapped under debris. He knew that he wouldn't have enough time to both remove the debris, _and_ get them clear of the falling building, so he went for plan 'B'. He smirked to himself; he always loved plan 'B'.

Standing in front of the fallen girl, he drew his hands back, forming balls of ki in both. 'Well, I wanted to save this,' Phoenix mused to himself, 'But now's as good a time as any to test it out...' Throwing his arms forward, he merged the two balls of ki, aiming the new ball at the falling building; more specifically, the part of building that would, in mere seconds, be crushing them like bugs if this didn't work. Smirking again, he shouted, "Inferno Blast!"

A massive beam of red ki shot forth, impacting the building and blowing a massive hole in the approaching side, before continuing through, and coming out the _other_ side. He quickly moved to shield the girl from further falling debris, as the building crashed down around them with a resounding slam. When the shaking stopped, he removed himself from shield duty, ripping the debris covering her legs before smiling down at her and asking, "Are you okay?"

Shakily climbing to her feet, she replied, "I... I think so. My legs hurt a bit, but other than that..." Looking around, she asked, "How are we gonna get out of here?"

He shrugged, "You should probably remain here until the attack is over, but if you want a way out..." He trailed off, raising his left hand and aiming it at one of the walls, before firing off a blast that bore it's way through the ruined building. Sensing another distressed ki close by, he started to take to the air, saying, "Good bye and good luck, miss..."

"Tabitha," she called out, "My friends call me Tabby."

He smiled again, flying off as he said, "Take care Tabby." As he blasted off, charging a blast and flinging it through one of the windows of the second tower before zipping inside, he never noticed the faint blush that came to the young green-haired catgirl's face, as she thought about her hero, the teen who left no name, who she would come to learn of as 'Phoenix'.

Phoenix scowled to himself as he flew back to the war-torn city, leaving the girl known as Kat on the hillside, part of him feeling decidedly ashamed, and the other part angry at feeling like that; he'd done nothing wrong! She had kissed him; a fairly chaste kiss, but a kiss nonetheless. As much as he wanted to believe otherwise, telling himself he felt nothing, that he had a mate back on Vegeta-Sei, he _had_... enjoyed it, the feeling of being close to someone again, hence the ashamed feeling.

And therein lay his dilemma. He knew, somewhere inside, that he would probably never see his would-be mate again; after all, it wasn't safe for him to return to Vegeta-Sei. And yet, despite the fact they had not bonded yet, and wouldn't have for another standard year at least, his Saiyan instincts told him that he was spoken for, and would not be with anyone else. Sighing, he resigned himself to spending the rest of his years alone, and put the thought out of his mind; there were more important things. Like the small garrison still in the city, just waiting for him to kill them. He just wished his heart didn't hurt so much...

o-o-o

On the surface, it appears to be a normal day aboard the Icebreaker, as it sped toward the location of the next dragon ball. Frost, sitting as his command console, has made sure the ship is away with all speed it can muster, to make up for time lost on the previous world. The ever-stoic Flute remains nearby, to correct navigation if the need arises. His female counterpart is deep in meditation further inside the ship, and the sniper Avery diligently works his station. But, for the remaining three occupants of the ship, it is far from a normal day.

The Saiyan warrioress Pi currently waits outside the training room, trying to get inside. Her mate is currently inside, and, judging from the readout on the terminal nearby, has been since before she got up. Also according to the terminal, he's training under near suicidal conditions; when they were last training, they maxed out at 200g's, but the room is currently set to 500, with the temperature in the room at fifty degrees below zero, over double their previous settings. And the doors have been programmed locked, only opening when he either finishes, or passes out, whichever happens first.

From the condition of the room's only occupant, both seem equally likely. The conditions inside could best be described as hell frozen over; what little moisture there is in the air has frozen, leaving clumps of ice on the walls, ceiling and floor, as well as Kaen's own body, but he notices none of these. He had ascended two hours ago, halfway into his training, when the force of gravity became to great for his normal form to stand. The training bots have been off for about half an hour now, when, after three and a half hours, he no longer had enough energy to divide it three ways; one to keep from being crushed, another to keep from being frozen alive, and the third to create/dodge ki blasts. And his internal state is no better than the room that contains him.

Despite what his male companions believed, it wasn't his ego that had taken the greatest damage, although that _did_ hurt; it was his warrior's pride. He had lost, a feat that had only ever happened five times before in his lifetime, but this time was much worse. Every other time he had suffered a blow to his pride by losing, his opponent had been as strong, if not stronger, than he himself at the time, and while it galled him that he had lost, at least then he had an excuse; now, he had none. _He_ was the stronger, the faster, yet still he was beaten, and beaten badly; if he lost, he could always count on the fact they'd be hurting as much as he, but he would have been lucky if he'd so much as _scratched_ Recoome, the man at least three times his inferior.

With this new loss came the nightmares, returning stronger than before; before, being in Pi's presence quietened his raging demons, but now not even that helped. This was the second time he'd been in the room today; he'd only left for long enough to heal in the regeneration tanks before heading straight back in, making it currently at least 12 hours since he'd last eaten, quite a feat for any Saiyan, considering how hard he was working. The first time had been while Pi still slept, after his demons had awoken him. Now, he didn't just dream of Pi being killed; no, now he dreamed of her being killed _while he watched_, knowing he wasn't strong enough to save her, and his wounded pride suffered another blow each and every time.

He had once been the perfect warrior hadn't he? Nothing to lose, everything to gain; no weaknesses, no regrets. Then she came back into his life, declaring she'd never let him go again, and he let her back in. And with her came a weakness; he now had something to lose, something that losing would destroy him. He had lost her once already, but with that loss came great strength, the likes of which he'd only ever dreamed of, and yet, it still wasn't enough. His own pride, his own belief in his strength, had made him cocky, and it almost cost him his life; for all intensive purposes, he had attempted suicide, and almost succeeded, which was more than his wounded pride could handle.

Now, he was second-guessing every decision he'd ever made. Did he do the right thing, starting up this one-man war, this vendetta, against Frieza and his Cold Empire? Was it a good idea to save the thirteen worlds from Frieza he had, or should he have just wiped them out completely? Was he justified in the eighteen counts of genocide on his soul? Did he do the right thing when he accepted Pi back into his life, or should he have continued flying solo, knowing that he would only bring her pain? Every one of these questions, especially the last one, cut deeply into his soul; he was a Saiyan, he shouldn't have regrets, especially when it came to mating and killing, but, with his pride shattered by one too many blows, he did, and anger followed them.

He was angry at Frieza, for being the main cause of his problems. He was angry at Vegeta, for sending him on a mission he _had_ to have known was a trap. He was angry at his late enemy, for being the first person to not only beat him, but beat him several times. He was angry at Recoome, for beating him, and making doing so look easy. He was angry at the Fates, for taking his older brother from him, and angry at his brother for going. He was angry at his mate, for worming her way back into his heart, and angry at himself for second-guessing his decision to accept her. But most of all, he was angry at himself, at his own inadequacies, at his own weakness.

It is this pure anger that Pi can feel through their bond, blocking out everything else, even who it's directed at. Every so often there's a sharp spike in his anger, and his ki along with it, but it always ebbs away before too long, and while his anger never seems to drop below the point she started feeling it, every time the spikes ebb his ki is lower, and she knows it won't be much longer before it's too much.

Her own concern and anger flow through the bond back to him as she pounds on the reinforced Saiyan-proof door, calling, _"Let me in Kaen or I'll blast this door open,"_ but silence is her only response through the haze of his anger; either the cloud of rage was too great for her words and feelings to penetrate, or he chose to ignore them both. Within moments, however, the training computer whirs, and, seemingly deciding he's had enough, returns the gravity and temperature to normal, announcing in a far-too cheery voice, "Training completed. Please allow thirty minutes for droid recovery and rebuilding. Have a nice day!"

When the doors open he storms out, his face an emotionless mask, with another target to had to his anger list; the computer, for booting him out before _he_ said he was finished. Well, he would have been storming out if he could do as much as stand steadily on his own two feet. His body suit is rolled down to his waist, and his bare chest, which should, by all rights, be drenched with sweat, is instead covered with small patches of ice, which are now starting to melt in the warmer temperature; all bar the body suit and boots he currently wears are still back in their room.

Pi, however, stood directly in his way, her feet planted, and a very intent look on her face, the kind she always wore when she wanted something and wasn't taking 'no' for an answer. Barely so much as glancing at her he started to walk around her, at least as best as he could manage in his weakened state, but she moved to block him, barking angrily, though still with the undertone of concern, "You were in there for the better part of the day Kaen. Why are you doing this to yourself?"

Stopping, he looked up at her, instead of the floor he'd been staring at to help guide his walk, his eyes cold, with occasional flashes on anger hidden under the surface, as he stared directly into hers. After standing in silence for a moment he replied, his voice devoid of all emotion, "I'm training. What does it look like? Now, I'm going to get into one of the regen tanks while I still have enough strength to stand under my own power."

"You're acting like a fool." When he didn't reply, merely gazing at her impassively, she lowered her gaze to look at the floor, adding in a quieter voice, "We hardly even train like we used to any more Kaen. Has so much changed we can't even do that?"

His voice softened slightly, although it was nowhere near that it used to, as he replied, "I'm not the boy you knew back on Vegeta-Sei anymore." This said, he began to walk/stagger off again, but before he could take three shaky steps, she kicked his legs out from under him, and planted her foot on his chest.

"I know you've changed, so have I, but my love for you never will. I did not come hunting after you to be left behind again, not in person, nor in power. If you want to beat yourself to a pulp to get stronger, than I want to do it too; just let me in! Do you think you're the only one here who wants to get stronger?"

He made no effort to rise, seeming as content on the floor as if it was his choice to be there all along, before saying, his voice full of emotion for the first time today, "I don't just _want_ to get stronger, I _need_ to get stronger; it's all I've got left! I have lost practically _everything_ I ever had, bar a war I cannot win, and a love I cannot protect, because I was too weak, and if I don't get stronger I'll lose them too..."

She knelt beside him, laying a hand on his cheek. "You don't need to protect me Kaen; you never had to. You know that when we fought together we were always stronger. I only want to help you, if you will let me." With that, she placed her hands over his chest as she began to heal him, a power she'd discovered during her travels, although her actions were a little shaky due to the overwhelming emotions currently flowing through her.

He growled, "I don't need your help." Contrary to his words, however, he made no effort to stop her. The raw anger still flowed strongly through the bond, but it was beginning to fade, a subtle statement that he was considering accepting help. 'Maybe, just this once, I can accept her help,' he thought to himself, 'Maybe she does understand...'

His thought was broken abruptly, as, while continuing to heal him, she said dryly, "Your pride doesn't want me to help, you mean."

With this, the anger returned full force. It would appear he was wrong; she didn't fully understand. This time he did push her away, growling his reply, "I shouldn't _need_ help, period. How am I ever going to beat that albino bastard once and for all if I'm always dependant on others?"

Her anger became apparent as well as she shot back, "Is it wrong to have another help you? To have me help you?" Her second statement had a pleading undertone to it that didn't go unnoticed.

He stood up, more steady than before after both her healing and a moment of rest, and his anger flared for a moment before he got it back to a controllable level, saying, "Don't you get it? This is _my_ war, _my_ vendetta; it was thrust upon _me_. You may have chosen to tag along, but you _had_ a choice; I didn't. This war is all I've had for twelve months of my life. It is the only reason I kept going; the idea that I might be able to make a difference. But despite _everything_ I've done, _nothing_ has changed; the galaxy is no better off now than it was when I started."

Standing firm, despite her own inner turmoil at the emotions rolling off him, and replied, "You're right, I had a choice. I could have stayed at home, mourning your death for the rest of my life like a pathetic little girl, but I risked everything, willingly gave up everything, to find you. I had a choice, to stay and fight like the warrior I am, the warrior _you_ made me, or to turn and run with my tail between my legs, but I made my choice, and I stand by it! My choice is to be by your side, to fight by your side; you can either accept it or fight it, but either way I'm not going anywhere, and you know it as well as I do. Besides Kaen, no one person can change the fate of the galaxy. You can only fight for what you believe in, to fight to change _your_ part of the galaxy. You may die, but to die fighting is our destiny, it always has been; no Saiyan warrior _ever_ died without a fight, or in their deathbed, we go down kicking and screaming. I made my choice Kaen. I'll live and fight by your side, and die by it if I have to, but as long as I'm here I'll prevent it, because I know with you, we can do _anything_."

He smiled, a sad smile, and his eyes, which had finally cleared of rage, spoke volumes. They spoke of a man who'd seen more in his short life than many did in their entire life; a man who'd felt more pain than should be bearable; a man who'd seen death reaching his cold, bony hands for him, had felt his icy breath, and regretted living, while at the same time fearing not. His voice was softer than she'd ever heard him in her life as he said, "Do you have any idea what I've become? What I had to become? Do you know how many people I've killed, and how many of those were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time? Eighteen counts of genocide; do you know how many innocent lives are on my soul, how much blood is on my hands? When I die, no-one will remember any of the good I've done; all they'll remember is the lone terrorist you dared challenge the might of the Cold Empire, and lost." He turned his back on her and started to walk off, calling over his shoulder, "You were better off on Vegeta-Sei; at least there, you were safe."

She noticed the definite use of 'When I die,' instead of 'If I die,' as well as the use of 'Vegeta-Sei' instead of 'home'. Her anger rising to boiling point at his refusal to listen, his refusal to let her in, she threw a hard jab to the back of his head, but her fist went straight through it, the image fading to nothingness from the disturbance; it would seem the rest did him a world of good. This didn't help her anger any, and she came close to ascending as she spat, "Baka..." on the verge of tears.

Silence greeted her for a moment, but her ki sense, the ability he taught her, told her she wasn't alone. Sure enough, moment's later Kat's head looked around the corner, and she asked hesitantly, "Are you alright? I overheard what you two were... I..I didn't mean to but..." She trailed off, looking very timid, but at the same time concerned; Pi was a good friend of hers, but at the same time, she was in a fairly emotional state, and, thus, could be very unpredictable.

Pi, for her part, did visibly try to calm down; after all, Kat had done nothing wrong, other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Once she'd reined her wayward emotions in she told Kat everything that happened, from start to finish, and what Kaen had said; the Neko, admittedly, had overheard _everything_, but stayed silent until Pi finished.

Pausing a moment to collect her thoughts, she said, "I..I think I know what he's going through. I've... seen it before." There was a definite pause that didn't go unnoticed.

Nodding slightly, the Saiyan woman replied, "I know you've met him before Kat; he hasn't told me the full story though."

She smiled a little shakily, taking another moment to collect her thoughts; Kaen's words had caused a lot of her own dark memories to resurface, and, while she would rather forget them, it was time to get a couple more off her chest. Taking a breath, she continued, "I..I didn't know that... Well, I suppose I should tell you it then... But... not here. I..I think I... we, should sit, somewhere..."

Pi just nodded and lead the girl off to the cafeteria, taking a table off to the side so that, if anyone else _did_ enter, the two of them would have time to notice; it was obvious that, whatever Kat was about to say was very personal.

The young girl paused, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself. Once she felt her emotions were sufficiently under control, she started. "I met him about four standard years ago.. Some time next month it'll be four years exactly. One day, out of the blue, about six men broke into our house, and... And they started killing everyone." Her voice cracked, but she continued, "They killed my mother, my father, my brothers... My brothers were screaming at me to run as they threw themselves at the intruders. All six of them knew they couldn't win, but they did it anyway, to save me. I.. I did the only thing I could; I ran..."

Tears started to form in her eyes, but she carried on regardless. "I didn't see them die, but I... I could hear them... Even as they died they were screaming at me to run, to save myself... but... but they caught up anyway..." She sniffled a bit before continuing, "When they caught me, all I could think of was that it was over; they were going to kill me, my family's death would be in vain, and there was nothing I could do about it. But... but they weren't going to kill me... not right away at least..."

She stopped abruptly, the memories assaulting her mind's eye becoming too much to handle. Pi nodded as if she understood, placing a comforting hand on Kat's shoulders; she had an idea where this was going. But, as the young catgirl continued, after taking a deep breath and sniffling again, she found that she wasn't entirely correct, and was, for once, happy to be wrong, if only by a small margin.

"They... they were going to rape me... I wasn't even fourteen, and they were going to... And there was nothing I could do to stop them... I prayed and prayed for someone to come, to save me, thinking, believing, that it would never happen... But it did..."

Pi nodded again, saying, "Kaen." It wasn't a question.

Kat nodded, a shaky smile on her face, "He burst through the window, which wouldn't have been quite as shocking if we weren't twenty stories up, and knocked them all away from me, saying that he was going to beat some respect for women into them. Then he beat them down like they were nothing; they fought back, of course, but they might as well have been standing still for all the good it did. After he was done, he got me out of the city, and went back in to help the others... I never saw him again, not until a few weeks ago, but I never forgot him, or what he did for me that day; how could I?"

Wiping her eyes, she said in a firm, resolute voice, "I lost everything that day, and I vowed to myself that I would never allow myself to be that helpless, that powerless, again. That's why I fight now, because I know that there's not always going to be someone to save me; I have to be able to save myself." Looking into her Saiyan friend's eyes, she finished, "I think that's what Kaen's going through now. He knows he won't always be able to get help, so he's making sure he never needs it; but just because he never _needs_ help, doesn't mean he won't ever _accept_ help. Don't worry, he'll come around, just don't give up on him."

Pi just nodded, her voice a little light-hearted in an attempt to cheer both of them up a bit as she replied, "I've dealt with him being stubborn before. Besides, I've chased him far too long to give up on him now."

Kat smiled again, but as she dropped her head it was obvious there was something else she wanted to say, so she let her speak. After a moment, she said, in a low voice, "I'm... I'm not proud of some of the things I've done to get this far... but I... I did what I had to, you understand?" She finished by looking up into Pi's eyes, her face, and her voice, pleading; for whatever reason, she felt she needed the older girl's approval, so Pi nodded, smiling a little to assure Kat, and herself, that things would be okay. Dropping her head again, she added, "I'm... I'm a thief... a-and a stow-away... That's how I ended up on this ship... I needed a way to get away after a job went bad, so I hid in a crate being loaded on..." Curling in on herself a bit, she said, "And... there's something else... but I'm... I'm afraid to tell you..."

Her curiosity peaked, Pi asked, "What?"

The girl sighed, took a shaky breath, and replied, "I've... I've had a major crush on Kaen for four years now... that's why I've tried, am trying, to emulate him, why I stayed on this ship, and why I acted like I did when you guys got here... I always knew he was with someone; he said as much to those guys that were going to... but still, I've felt like this ever since..." She trailed off, and it was obvious that, whatever she hadn't said was why she was afraid.

"Since?" Pi kept her tone flat, but Kat just sighed again, mumbled something too low for even her sensitive hearing to pick up, and curled in upon herself some more. Getting annoyed, she tried to keep from shouting at the girl as she said, "Speak up."

"Since I kissed him..." Her voice was still low, but this time loud enough to hear. She didn't look up, keeping her head between her knees, and her arms around her legs for support; it was clear she felt ashamed, but not regretful, of what she'd done, and was expecting, and preparing for, the explosion she felt was coming.

Under normal circumstances, Pi _would_ have exploded, and been in the right to do so; both girls knew this fact. But she didn't. She couldn't understand herself why she hadn't flown into a rage at this news; clearly Kat was prepared to accept whatever punishment Pi had deemed fit for her crime. Instead, she just nodded a little, musing out loud, "So that's what keeps nagging him..." before standing, grabbing Kat by the arm, and dragging her off. Kat, too surprised by her actions to be in right enough mind to do anything even had she been strong enough to stop her, just staggered after her, trying to match Pi's blistering pace, but keeping her gaze down; she was too afraid to see the look on Pi's face.

o-o-o

Pi more or less dragged Kat along as she headed towards the med bay, arriving just as a newly-healed Kaen climbed out of one of the regen tanks, and stopping as abruptly as she'd started, causing the young girl to almost fall flat on her face. He raised an eyebrow at the two of them and their strange behaviour, but as they never exactly acted _normal_ to begin with just shrugged it off without a word, grabbing a towel to dry himself of the healing liquid he'd just been emersed in, his still-bare torso glistening wetly.

As she watched Kat regain her footing out of the corner of her eye, Pi spoke up sternly, giving Kaen a meaningful look, "You might spout on about having no effect in the galaxy, but sometimes it's not the bigger picture that counts; you can't even seem to see what you've done for those who couldn't help themselves, like Kat here. You think you're losing this 'war' but on _every_ planet I visited I heard _nothing_ but good things; they were singing praise to their saviour, 'The Phoenix', and how hard he fought, and fights, against their 'Cold Empire oppressors'."

He just blinked, mildly shocked, and seemingly at a loss for words, so she pressed on, "No single person can win a war Kaen, not on their own."

He sighed, draping the towel across his shoulders, before saying, "I know... I know... It's just, I'm... I'm afraid I'm not doing enough... I mean, in four years, how much have I done of meaning?"

Pi just nudged Kat, who cleared her throat before replying, "Well, you helped me for one... Not only did you save me, you helped me to become a better person, just by being who you are. Does... does that mean so little to you?"

He looked at the two of them for a moment, before a smile, his first _real_ smile in a while, started to break through the mask of his face as he said, "No, no, that does mean a lot... But still, that's just one person. Not much to say for my little crusade, especially when you consider it happened when I started the damn thing."

Pi interjected, "Not only her, didn't you save her whole world? And just now, together we stopped an invasion that would have destroyed another. Ask Frost how many times Frieza has cursed your very existence; how many people can say that?"

Kaen snorted amusedly at the memory of the Neko-Sei invasion, saying, "I remember that day. To them it was like the sky was falling, and I was some avatar sent to save them from destruction; to me, it was Thursday, and another excuse to hurt people..." Shaking it off, he turned to Kat with a raised eyebrow and asked, "Is that true, that bit about Frieza?"

She nodded again, "From the little he's told me, it was because of you he started this resistance in the first place. It's not every day someone stands up to the Cold Empire, and with you out there causing Frieza a world of trouble, he could form an army and plot Frieza's downfall under his nose. He said Frieza had no idea he was plotting against him until he stole this ship."

Kaen laughed, a short, sharp laugh, as he said, "Yeah, that sounds like Frost." He looked them over a minute before sighing, looking at his mate with a defeated smile as he added, "Alright Pi, you win..."

She just smirked, replying, "Of course I do. Now, put something on before you catch cold, or young Kat here gets a nose bleed."

The girl in question blushed, averting her eyes, but Kaen just raised an eyebrow at them both, saying dryly, "Pi, you of all people should know us Saiyans are above such weakling illnesses as a cold, me especially." With that, he walked off, towel still around his bare, muscular shoulders, stopping in the doorway and turning back to face the girls and adding, with sheer amusement radiating off him, and replacing the anger she'd felt through their bond before, "And I'm not going to let you win _everything_."

Pi kept her smirk, but inside her heart was doing a little dance in happiness, and it showed through the waves of relief that flowed back to him. With her eyes still down, Kat murmured, "You're never gonna let me live this down, are you?" She felt she already knew the answer, but had to ask anyway.

Instead, Pi just grinned at her, showing how amused she was at the young catgirl, and answering, "Maybe."

Raising her head to look the other girl in the eyes, a hopeful expression on her face, she repeated, "Maybe?"

"Maybe." The Saiyan woman gave no further sureties than that.

Realising that, for now at least, it was the best she was going to get, she gave Pi a friendly hug, whispering, "Thanks for listening. Kaen's the only other one who knows about... you know, and I'd like to keep it that way." Pulling away, she added, "And thanks for understanding, about... everything."

"It's okay, I won't tell anyone." She paused a moment before adding, "Thanks."

Smiling, Kat replied, "Any time." Looking a little nervous again, she continued, "If it makes any difference, he's more like a brother to me now then..." She trailed off, knowing Pi would be able to fill in the blanks. When she just nodded and smiled back, Kat rushed on with the rest of what she wanted to say, "Do you think I could train with you guys sometimes? I mean, I know I'm no where near as strong as either of you alone, and never will be, but we can still swap skills and techniques..."

Pi just looked to Kaen for an answer, and he just shrugged, replying, "Doesn't bother me, just so long as it's not all the time."

"Okay then," Pi nodded.

Kat hugged Pi again, knowing doing the same to Kaen wouldn't help her case any, as she chirped, "Thanks guys." Lowering her voice so only Pi could here, she added, "I asked you 'coz I know if you say yes he does. He always does what you want sooner or later." She finished by giggling quietly.

Pi grinned before hugging her back, replying in a similar volume so Kaen wouldn't hear, only feeling her amusement through their mental link, "It was the best trick I ever taught him." This caused Kat's giggling to escalate in frequency and pitch.

Kaen looked at them again, one eyebrow raised in question, before shaking his head and saying, "I don't know what you guys are talking about, but you know what? I don't want to know. It's probably better I don't"

Pi just grinned again, "Good boy."

Kaen just shook his head again and wandered off, muttering, "Next thing you know she's gonna ask me to roll over, or play dead, or something..." loud enough for the girls to hear. Pi just giggled and, letting go of Kat, chased after Kaen and wrapped her arms around him from behind. Pausing, and turning to look at her over his shoulder as best he could, he drawled, "Can I help you?" His voice was dry, but she could clearly hear the hint of mirth beneath it.

"Yes, I was looking for an ego-filled, muscle-bound brute, and you seem to be about the right size," she replied with a smirk.

His voice still dry, but adopting the tone he'd come to expect from merchants everywhere, he said, "Are you sure you wouldn't want the deluxe model? It comes fully programmed, and completely obedient." There was obviously a great amount of effort involved in keeping the smirk from his face.

"No thanks, I'll upgrade it myself."

"Very well. Would you like to pay now, or will you take advantage of our credit service?" The corners of his mouth started turning up, as the effort of holding back the grin became too great.

"I think I've paid more than enough already, thank you very much." She promptly punched him in the ribs to emphasise her point.

He didn't so much as flinch, replying, "Hey, don't damage the merchandise." The smirk finally broke its way through as he said through their bond, his mental voice full of humour, _"You've hit me harder than that while asleep."_

"I paid for it, I can do what I like." She laughed out loud. _"You don't deserve it as much now."_

"Very well ma'am. Please retain your receipt for your warranty." _"Only you could think I deserve to be hit because you toss and turn of a night."_

"Now, where can I get a leash? Oh wait, here's one built in." She grabbed Kaen by the tail and led him off. _"You weigh more than you think, and it takes some effort to get you off me."_

_"Last I checked, you sleep on my chest, not the other way around."_ He replied as he gently pried her hand off his tail, both knowing she wasn't trying to hurt him. "That won't be necessary."

_"Well, you do have a good grip..."_

Their dual conversation was broken as Kat raced to catch up to them after several minutes of observation, crying, "Hey, you guys are having two conversations at once aren't you?"

Pi just looked at her, a curious expression on her face, as she replied, "What makes you think that?"

"You're faces takes on a slightly different look when you do that silent talking thing I've heard you guys can do, both of you."

Releasing Kaen to face Kat fully, Pi said, "Wow, you really are observant. Quite the spy."

She blushed a little, "I do my best. When you're weaker than everyone around you, it pays to notice the little things other's miss."

Pi nodded, "Must be handy at times."

Kat's face just took on a mildly bitter look as she said, "It never comes when you need it though, not until it's too late anyway. But, you know what they say: 'Good judgement comes from bad experience, which often comes from bad judgement.'"

Pi nodded, changing the subject, "How about something to eat?"

Kaen interrupted their little chat, stepping between them and throwing an arm around their shoulders as he said, "Best thing I've heard all afternoon. I could kill for a meal." Pausing for a quick laugh, he added, "I have before."

Laughing a little herself, Pi hurried on ahead to go prepare the meal. And as the remaining two followed in silence, Kaen fell into thought once more. The Kaen from Vegeta-Sei was dead; he was killed in action, replaced with the shadow of his former self that had existed until now. That shadow was now broken, shattered into pieces along with his pride. And while Kaen knew that he would never be able to repair his shattered pride, and the psyche that went with it, to what it had been before the harshness of reality crashed down on him, with the help of his mate, and newly-adopted 'sister', maybe, just maybe, he could build it better, stronger than before.

Ironically, like his ship, he was rebuilding himself from the broken remains of his old self, but he had taken the first step on the path to recovery, the hardest step. He knew his troubles were far from over, but now he realised he didn't have to do everything on his own; he had people who would support him every step of the way down the bumpy road, regardless of his decisions. So he smiled, content in the knowledge that, in the end, all would be right again.

And the Icebreaker flew on, on silent wings, unheeding of its passengers, drawing ever closer to its next destination.

End Chapter 15

To be continued...


	18. Treasure Trove

--- The Phoenix Chronicles ---

Chapter 16 - Treasure Trove

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A new day dawned on the prototype Icebreaker, and the heavy emotion that had hung thick in the air like a fog, unbeknownst to all but three of it's occupants, had disappeared as quickly as it had settled in place. In its place was a mild buzz of excitement. Today, the Icebreaker held an orbit over what appeared to be an ordinary looking world of plains and forests; the location of the fifth dragon ball.

But, for two of the ships occupants, that was but one reason for their excitement. One, the young Neko Kat, sat at her console with a bright, cheery smile on her face, and that was _after_ placing harsh restraints on her emotions. After the events of the day before, the Saiyan couple had more or less 'officially' adopted Kat as their mutual sister, and she had never felt more accepted, not even when her own family was still alive; in some ways, she felt bad for feeling this good at having a 'new' family, but she also knew her 'old' family wouldn't want her to grieve them all her life. They had wanted her to live, giving their lives to ensure she did, and she was going to make the most of their final gift to her.

The other, the Saiyan woman Pi, was in a similar state of excitement as she hurried out of their room, pinning her hair back as she did so, and finding Kaen waiting for her outside. But her reason for such excitement was different; her mate had seemingly changed overnight. No longer was he the would-be loner who spurned all affection; now he was someone she had never seen before. He was more open with his feelings, and more accepting of hers, and, better still in her eyes, more accepting of _her_.

Even back home he had trouble accepting her, although that may have been because they were still too young to fully comprehend just how deep they loved each other, and also too young to admit it; that, and the pair of them were constantly being teased about it, which didn't make accepting it easier. Now, even though he still wouldn't say 'I love you' out loud except under extreme duress, the feelings she felt through their bond spoke louder than words ever could, and she could tell he was no longer hiding his emotions from her; what you saw was what you got.

He had been right yesterday; he wasn't the boy she had known back home, the boy she'd met three years ago (or fifteen in the standard calendar) when he accidentally blasted her during his training. Now, he was better, and she was finding herself falling more in love with him every passing second. It was all she could do to refrain from dancing in glee, but, somehow, she managed.

Kaen grinned cheekily at her as she finished with her hair, joking, "Took ya long enough."

"Well, if a certain someone wasn't in such a hurry last night to toss my clothes around the room, I would have been done quicker," She replied with a little irritation in her voice, but the embarrassment and amusement were plain as day through the bond.

Still bearing that cheeky grin he quipped back, "I didn't hear you complaining at the time." His amusement was just as obvious as hers, but he felt no embarrassment. In fact, ever since the two had bonded, he felt nothing even _close_ to embarrassment about _anything_ the two of them did; now that they were officially life mates, anything was fair game, and nothing was to be ashamed of, at least in his eyes.

Not being able to think of a reply that wouldn't make her feel more embarrassed, she fell silent, keeping up her guise of irritation as she headed to the hangar bay, and he joined her in silence, but that grin was still on his face.

o-o-o

The Namek couple waited in the hangar bay near Flute's ship. There was an air of silence, but it was a comfortable silence. Flute, while quiet, was clearly impatient, as the look on his face attested to, but Viola, while more calm on the outside, was more irritated on the inside. She was actually telepathically bristling with so much irritation that Flute asked mentally, _"What's wrong?"_

Despite her irritation, it was all she could do to refrain from smiling as she heard his voice in her mind. Ever since the two of them had decided to 'make things up as they go along' this was one of the few changes they'd actually made; they now spoke telepathically more than out loud. If asked, either probably would have claimed it was so they could hold private conversations, but both of them knew they could just as easily speak Namekian if that's what they wanted. Truth be told, the reason they did it was two-fold: one, neither wanted to break the comfortable silence they often fell into (having sharper hearing wasn't always a good thing); and two, there was something more intimate about speaking directly to each other's minds.

Not allowing any of this to show, either physically or mentally, she replied, without changing her look one iota, _"Nothing much, really... I'm just a little sick of waiting..."_

_"The Saiyans do this often enough, I would have thought you'd be used to it by now."_ His face didn't change any either; unlike the Saiyans, they were so used to using telepathy that there were no outward signs.

_"You'd think so wouldn't you? Then again, you'd think you'd get used how they eat as well..."_

_"Nothing could get used to that."_ His reply was swift, and with a hint of humour. He only really showed such emotional displays (by his standards anyway) in his telepathic conversations with her; he was stoic by nature, and quite happy to remain that way.

She couldn't help but laugh a little out loud, and he smiled a little himself. When silence fell again, she was much calmer, inside and out; despite technically being the same species, she wasn't as good as reining her emotions in as he was, but talking with him always managed to help.

Flute opened the ships hatch in anticipation of the Saiyan couples arrival, thinking to himself, _"If they ever manage to drag themselves out of bed..."_

He didn't realise he'd actually made that thought telepathical until Viola responded, _"I'm almost tempted to leave them behind. Being left out of a possible fight would be punishment enough."_

Despite himself, he had to fight down the urge to grin. _"Not a bad idea actually, though, they have their uses, such as being enough of a distraction for us to retrieve the dragon balls without too much difficulty."_

Now she had to fight back a grin. _"I don't think they'd like to hear you calling them a 'distraction'."_

_"Compared to what the dragon balls can do, that's all that they really are."_ His reply was more serious than she thought it would be; she had meant her previous comment as a joke, but it seemed the importance of the dragon balls was too serious a topic.

She nodded slightly, replying, _"Oh I agree completely, but still, I wouldn't tell _them_ that."_

This time he seemed to see her comment for what it was, smiling slightly. _"Indeed."_

Her newfound patience almost gone again, Viola fought back the urge to growl. _"Dammit, what's taking them so long..."_

As if her words summoned them, the couple walked through the doors to the hangar, Kaen still wearing that cheeky grin as he called out, "Sorry we're late." Flute just gave them a very flat stare and boarded his ship without a word, Viola following shortly after him, so Kaen just turned to his mate and drawled sarcastically, "Think he's mad at us?"

Pi just grinned, "With a face like that, how could you tell?"

He grinned a bit himself, "Good point. Well, I think we've kept them waiting long enough, shall we?" She nodded, and the two boarded the ship without incident, although, as the ship began planet fall, he _did_ pull her into his lap, and she had to resist the urge to giggle giddily; she loved sitting in his lap, and she didn't even need to 'impose' herself on him to do it, he'd done it himself.

o-o-o

The trip was relatively short, and the landing easy, as they set down in a grassy clearing in the middle of a large expanse of forest, much like any other, except for the fact that the plants were purple instead of green. As per usual, Kaen was the first one off the ship, raising an eyebrow at the purple plants and muttering to himself, "Just when you think you've seen everything..."

Pi, exiting after him, just giggled a little, "I wonder what the flowers are like here."

Without looking at her, he muttered again, "Knowing my luck they'd be the type to try eating us..."

Viola exited the ship quietly as Pi giggled again, "Vegetables that eat you. Ironic."

He just shrugged, "I've seen weirder things."

Also as per usual, Flute was the last one to leave the ship, closing the hatch as he shook his head silently at the pair's banter, before beginning to lead the way into the forest, the rest of them following shortly after. Looking about, the Namek commented, "This place... feels strange..."

Raising an eyebrow, Kaen asked, "What do you define as strange green man?"

"I don't know... yet."

He rolled his eyes, muttering to himself sarcastically, "Oh yeah, _that_ helps..."

He'd forgotten about how good Namek hearing was though, but he was quickly reminded as Flute shot back, with a level tone, "And you can tell any better?"

For his part, Kaen just grinned cheekily again and replied, "Didn't say I could, but _I'm_ not the one worried."

Flute just let the conversation drop as they continued on; he wasn't sure he liked this new Kaen.

Without warning the tree line ended with a cliff, and a rocky outcrop was apparent below. "Down there I think." Flute said, motioning to the outcrop, and flying down moments later, Viola following after him.

Looking at his mate, Kaen just motioned with his head and said, "After you."

She grinned at him, "Willing to let me go into possible danger ahead of you hmm? How very kind." She jumped down and levitated to the outcrop with the Nameks.

Kaen just grinned himself, following as he replied, _"What can I say? I like the view from here."_

Pi didn't bother to reply; she was too busy looking into the cavern that was being covered by the outcrop. "It looks almost like a giant ear."

Landing beside her, Kaen muttered, "Why don't I like the sound of that..."

Flute just punched the wall, "It's rock. Nothing to worry about." With this, he entered the cavern, Viola following after him. Pi tested it herself before following, while Kaen, bringing up the rear, just sighed, "If you'd seen half the things I had you wouldn't be so sure..."

The cave was remarkably large, and jagged, moss-covered rocks spiked out of the ground and ceiling as they moved deeper. Deep within the cave a sudden glow could be seen, shining an eerie yellow, and as they got closer a shrine could be seen, filled with a great deal of jewels, gold, and other precious gems and ornaments.

Grinning a little, Kaen thought to himself, unknowingly telling PI through their bond, _"Score!"_

_"This could belong to someone."_ She replied back. Her reply didn't shock him as much as it used to; he was used to accidentally saying things, and getting replies for idle thoughts.

_"Well they're not here now, that's good enough for me."_ Actually, now that he thought about it, he couldn't sense _any_ ki's worth noting, but as Pi giggled at his reply, he just put it down to the life forms on this planet having next to no ki to speak of, and left it at that.

Looking about, Flute commented, "The dragon ball is in this room. Spread out."

The group did just that, each taking different corners of the room to begin searching for the ball, Kaen taking a few choice items as he did so; he'd seen enough jewels and the like now to tell at sight what was valuable and what was worthless, and thus only grabbed the best of what he could find. Trying a different tactic, Flute withdrew one of the balls from his cloak, holding it out as he searched, while Viola chose to do her searching telekinetically.

Rummaging through a pile of her own, Pi commented, "There's so much stuff here..." Finding a necklace with a green gem hanging from it, she murmured awedly, "How pretty..."

After a few minutes of searching, the ball in Flute's hand began to glow, and, after rummaging through a nearby pile, he found the dragon ball amongst the other loot, it's four stars seeming to stand out in the yellow glow of the area.

Pausing in his searching/pillaging, Kaen called out, "Found it yet?"

Flute picked the ball up, tucking it, and the other, into his cloak. "I have it." Kaen just nodded, grabbing a few more items before heading over to Pi as Flute muttered mostly to himself, "Only two more, then..." It could have been directed at Viola, who had walked over to him the second he'd announced he'd found it, but more than likely he was just thinking out loud.

As he got close, Kaen could see his mate admiring the necklace she'd found, gazing at the green gem; green was, after all, her favourite colour. Appraising it for a moment, Kaen just nodded, "Not bad. It suits you." Saying this, he helped her put it on.

She turned to smile at him, "Maybe I should find something for Kat, she likes shiny things."

He just shrugged, "I'm sure she's like anything you gave her."

Flute looked at them both for a moment, saying, "Whatever you wish to do, hurry. We're leaving." before doing just that, Viola leaving with him.

Kaen just raised an eyebrow at the green man, muttering softly to Pi, "Geez, he's in a rush today..."

"This place does give me the creeps..." Saying this, she bent over and picked up a necklace similar to her own, but with a shiny black crystal in place of the green of her own, and with this in hand, left after Flute.

Looking around for a moment, he muttered to himself, "Doesn't seem so bad to me..." before realising the others had all left, and following them out. Suddenly, the cavern began shaking, and deciding he didn't really want to find out why the hard way, he took flight and sped out. No sooner had he done so than the cave collapsed behind him.

"So that's what's wrong with this place," Flute said mostly to himself, "There are no animals. Through the entire forest there wasn't a single sound. The noise of the collapse would have sent birds into the sky in every direction."

"A planet without life... can't say it's the first I've seen, and I doubt it'll be the last..." Kaen replied disinterestedly.

"There might be something more to it," the Namek mused, "The cave looked sound, so why did it collapse so suddenly?"

Kaen just shrugged, "Your guess is as good as mine..." His statement was interrupted as Pi gave a short yelp and started to levitate. Fighting down a worried look as soon as it started to come - Pi would probably get annoyed if she thought he was worrying about her safety - he looked to her for an explanation.

"The ground..." She muttered, "It was trying to grab me."

Not taking any chances, Kaen started floating himself, hovering over to her side, and the Namek couple taking to the air moments after. The earth began to tremor slightly, and Kaen readied a ki blast, just in case. No sooner had he done so, a large chunk of earth shot up towards him, and was instantly reduced to dust by said blast. He couldn't help but notice the chuck of earth had looked eerily similar to a hand...

"We should get back to the ship," Flute called as he and Viola began to head off. Nodding, Kaen instinctively wrapped an arm protectively around Pi's waist, seeming to not notice what he'd done, as the two began to follow the others back to the ship.

o-o-o

As they reached the ship, they found it half submerged in the ground. Raising an eyebrow, Kaen muttered more to himself than anyone, "Wonderful... I think I've worked out why there's no life on this planet..."

Flute called the command to open the hatch to the ship, but due to ships current predicament, the hatch could open halfway. It was, however, enough for him to squeeze himself inside. As the two Saiyans stand guard outside, Viola followed him in, although somewhat less gracefully than she would have liked. Once inside, Flute quickly made his way to the controls, when, with a sudden shudder, the ship began to sink further into the ground. Thinking quickly, he activated the engines in an effort to push free, but the pull of the ground is too strong, and the best he can do is halt the sinking, for now.

Noticing the struggling ship, Kaen began to quickly use small, controlled bursts of ki to blast the earth around the ship, and after a few moments of this the ship lurched free, the hatch still open. "We have to go now!" Pi called, quickly racing onto the ship, and not so much as sparing one final glance to the planet Kaen flew onboard after her, closing the hatch behind him as the ship began to speed into, and through, the planet's atmosphere.

Looking out the window, Kaen remarked to no one in particular, "Not that I want to jinx us or anything, but is it just me, or was that too simple?"

Without turning from the controls, Flute called back, "Do you want to stick around to find out?"

"I didn't say that," Kaen replied with a shake of his head, "It's just that I'm used to having to do more to get a job done, that's all. Having a simple job seems... odd... to me."

Shaking her head, Pi muttered to herself, "That doesn't feel right..."

Kaen just sighed, "I guess, with all that's happened recently, we were due..."

She shook her head again, seemingly having not heard him, as she added, "It can't be following us..."

Finally turning to look at her, a look half shock and half disbelief on his face, he replied, "Following us? What do you mean?"

Before she could reply a voice broke through across the comm. system from the Icebreaker, the voice belonging to one Lieutenant Frost, "I don't know about you guys, but does it look like that planet is moving to you?"

Kaen just looked out the window, seeing that, as they'd said, the planet wasn't getting smaller, as it should if they were leaving it behind; well, it was a _bit_ smaller, but not as much smaller as it should have been. Seeing this, Kaen summed up his disbelief with a single word, "Shit..."

His voice was loud enough for the comm. system to pick up, which became obvious as Frost replied, "I thought as much. Get back to the Icebreaker now, and we'll be gone as fast as possible. You can explain the details later." With this, the transmission ended with a short crackle.

Kaen just kept looking out the window, muttering, "Sentient planets... this day just keeps getting weirder."

Again without turning from the controls, Flute muttered back, "Maybe if someone didn't start taking what didn't belong to them we might not have angered it."

He just shrugged, replying, "That's entirely possible, but I could say the same of you. There's nothing that says it didn't consider the dragon ball part of its collection, or that we could have taken everything bar said dragon ball without issue.

Flute considered pointing out that the planet had only attacked the pair of Saiyans, but decided against it; plain and simple, it just wasn't worth the hassle, what's done was done. Instead, he just remained silent as he piloted the ship into the hangar of the Icebreaker, which began moving the second the ship set down, and, shutting his ship down, he left without another word, Viola following him.

Turning to his mate, Kaen muttered, "He's edgy today..."

Pi looked thoughtful for a minute, musing, "He said there were two left, so there's seven dragon balls... I wonder why he wants them."

He just shrugged, "I dunno, but we really should get around to asking one of these days."

"You can, since you're the one he hired; I'm just the tag-along," She jibed, poking her tongue out at him.

He just shrugged in return, "I'll do it later; doesn't seem like a good time now."

o-o-o

Flute entered the bridge at a brisk walk and looked out over the view screen, "Is it still following us?"

Frost just nodded, "Seems like it. So tell me, who did you piss off to make an entire planet chase you?" Kat giggled at his comment despite herself, but otherwise remained silent, and Avery just grunted.

With a sour look, Flute replied, "The planet seems alive. We found some treasure where the ball was kept, and the two Saiyans decided to help themselves. As we were leaving there was some blasting to be done, so there's your answer." Kat's eyes lit up at the word 'treasure', and without a word she was off like a shot.

Frost paused in thought, "The planet is alive? No people?" When Flute shook his head, Frost continued, "Well, that makes things easier. We can't be about with this thing following us, and I doubt it's going to go away on it's own, so I think it's time to use the cannon.

This comment got Avery's attention, and he raised en eyebrow in question, "Are you sure you want to use that? I may not know much about this ship, but I know that thing's never been tested; it's even more of a prototype than this ship, which says a lot."

"Any other suggestions on how to stop a planet?" Frost replied dryly, "I'd go down myself, but who knows how I'd survive in an explosion like that."

Avery just shrugged his shoulders, saying disinterestedly, "Your survival is the least of my concerns; my survival, however, is a prime concern of mine. Fine, use the cannon, but if it's all the same with you I think I'll wait by the escape pods until you're done, just in case."

Go right ahead," Frost jibed, "I knew you were a Torian, but I didn't think you were chicken."

Ignoring the barb, Avery just replied as he walked out, "I'm not; I'm just not suicidal." For a man who supposedly feared an early death, he made no hurry to leave.

Frost merely shrugged the birdman's departure off, calling commands to the bridge crew, "Bring the ship around, and charge the cannon to full power. I want that ball of rock turned into dust."

o-o-o

Noticing the ship seemed to be turning around, Kaen muttered more to himself than anything, "What the hell's he doing?"

He got his answer soon enough, as a warning blared over the ship's speakers, "All hands alert. Main cannon being readied to fire. Please enter bracing positions."

A confused look on his face, he just looked at his mate, one eyebrow raised, and said, "Cannon? Did you know this thing had weapons?" She had a similar look on her face, but before she could process the question, let alone answer, he answered himself, "No, I 'spose you didn't."

The speakers blared again, "T-minus 10 minutes until Hyperspace Cannon firing."

Kaen's jaw dropped at this announcement, "'Hyperspace' Cannon?"

Looking about, Pi remarked, "Perhaps we should be somewhere else." The pair were still in the hangar bay.

Wrapping an arm around her waist, again without seeming to realise he'd done so, he replied, "That sounds like a good idea." before starting out of the hangar at a fairly fast paced walk. Later, when she had more time to think, she'd revel in just how instinctively he held her, as if that simple action could make everything better; truth be told, for her it _did_ make everything better, but that was beside the point. For now, they had bigger worries.

o-o-o

Back on the bridge, Frost looked out as the planet drew every closer; the ship had to be stationary to fire the cannon, but they couldn't have flown backwards anyway. Rubbing his hands in an effort to hide his nervousness, he commented, "Well, looks like we can't miss this way."

Flute raised an eyebrow, "Miss?"

The Aisu just grinned a little, again trying to hide his nervousness; if this didn't work, that planet would run right through them before they could turn around or fire again, and that was the best case scenario if the cannon failed. "Who knows, I haven't really had a chance to make a calibrating shot." He replied, "This thing was made to take out planets when Frieza felt too bored to do it himself. Plus, it's the first weapon to ever use hyperspace as an energy source, so it's experimental at the best of times."

Viola, who'd only just arrived in the control room, remarked, "Why don't I like the sound of that?"

Flute wore his usual bored, yet irate, expression, "This seems far too unreliable."

"Got any better ideas?" Frost shot back.

Viola just sighed, "I guess an unreliable weapon is better than no weapon, but we don't have to like it."

"Better take a seat. I've heard this thing has a massive kick to it," Frost mentioned, as if the thought had just occurred to him; knowing Frost, it probably had.

"T-minus 2 minutes until firing." The warning suddenly blared over the speakers. Viola quickly sat down, taking Kat's recently vacated seat, and Flute followed suit with Avery's. Kat had, by this point, taken refuge inside one of the rooms along the way to the hangar, and Avery was inside his pod, just in case.

Frost just remarked grandly, "Watch for the pretty fireworks."

o-o-o

"T-minus 30 second until firing."

The warning rang loud through the speaker system, and Kaen quickly pulled Pi into the nearest room, making sure to brace the both of them against backlash; they both knew she could just as easily protect herself, but he felt better protecting her himself, and she, despite protests to the contrary, quite liked his protective streak.

With a sudden loud roar, and a massive lurch that sent the ship backwards even in the emptiness of space, the Hyperspace Cannon was fired, the multi-coloured pulsing blast crashing directly into the planet. The planet shuddered and rumbled, and within moments cracks could be seen forming in its crust and the planet began to fall apart.

Looking out a nearby window, Kaen just muttered, "Hey, that's pretty cool." Pi just shook her head with a smile, elbowing him lovingly in pure Saiyan fashion. He just smiled himself and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close, as his tail snaked around her leg unbeknownst to him, and hers around his waist as she turned to kiss him on the cheek. Before long that turned into a proper kiss, and things only escalated from there as the two of them got caught up in the moment. After all, there's nothing more romantic than a fireworks show, and nothing more arousing to a Saiyan than the destruction of a planet.

o-o-o

After Frost recovered from the firing he smiled broadly, "Hey, it worked... excellent."

Viola just raised an eyebrow, "You seem surprised."

He shrugged, "Well, when you try something previously untested for the first time, you tend to have a few doubts about whether it'll work or not, but it worked, so that's neither here nor there." Flute was less than impressed, but he didn't say anything; just like his argument with Kaen earlier, it just wasn't worth the effort.

Before too long, Avery waltzed back in, saying, "So it worked huh? I guess that goes to show that not even _you_ can screw _everything_ up."

Frost wore a bland look, "Well, it's not like I _missed_..." He put a strange emphasis on the word, that he was sure only Avery would have known the significance of.

Sure enough, Avery glared at him for it, replying, "You are dancing on a very thin blade, you know that right?"

"If you want me dead, take a number and get in line." Frost replied as he waved him off dismissively.

Flute rose from Avery's seat and, without a word, made his way over to Viola, who was straightening her cloak, having newly risen from Kat's chair, and offering her his arm. She accepted the gesture with a slight smile, and, as Avery dropped into his seat and fell back to his normal brooding, the pair walked off silently.

And thus life returned to normal on the Icebreaker. Another dragon ball had been recovered, and only two remained, but there were plenty more adventures and misfortunes in store in the days to come; of that, no one doubted.

End Chapter 16

To be continued...

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Author's Notes:

I've decided that doing flashback intros to every chapter is no longer necessary. Personally, I couldn't be bothered creating more backstory for Kaen, now that all the important parts have been shown.


	19. Shopping Torture

--- The Phoenix Chronicles ---

Chapter 17 - Shopping Torture

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The Icebreaker sped onwards through the emptiness of space towards the location of the sixth dragon ball. For those on board, the passing time seems to drag on. This is, in part, due to the ship's computer's control over the flow of days, which seem to press on longer, but in truth, much of this can be attributed to simple 'cabin fever'; for many, it has been a long time since they've left the confines of the ship, and longer still since they'd seen the strangely comforting hustle and bustle of an industrialised city.

Pi strode purposefully down one of the many halls of the ship in search of her mate, but in an odd turn of events, Kaen was _not_ spending his time in the training room. Nor was he in the cafeteria, or in their shared bedroom. Quizzically searching for him, she tried to think of where he could be; he had to be on the ship somewhere, but she'd already checked his usual haunts.

A sudden ki flare, following a string of curse words and an overall sense of frustration through the bond the couple shared, revealed her AWOL partner's location - the hangar bay. Grinning to herself, she decided to investigate, from the sense of frustration alone. Anger replaced the frustration for a moment, followed by another string of curses; that alone told her he was fixing his ship, or trying to at least.

Sure enough, upon arriving in the hangar she could see his feet sticking out from underneath his spherical ship, which was currently resting on a set of supports to keep it steady. In his current mood, it was obvious that he didn't realise the feelings and thoughts he was sharing with her, and it was also obvious he didn't know she was there; his portable computer lay open on the bench he'd set up nearby, and if he knew she was coming he would have hidden it like he always did.

Admittedly, she _was_ curious as to why he refused to let her see what was on it, but she knew better than to violate his trust; when he was ready to share it with her, he'd tell her himself. So, shelving the thought of searching through it while he was obviously distracted, she called out, while trying hard not to laugh, "Having fun?"

Another string of curses followed, and a short feeling of pain; obviously her voice had startled him enough to crack his head on the ship. Once the curses had subsided she could see him float his way out from under the ship using his ki, taking a moment to glare at her, before silently climbing into his ship at an odd angle to work on something else; obviously he didn't see the humour of the situation.

"Do you need a hand?" Again, she had to fight back laughter, but it was easier this time.

He climbed back out of the ship, taking a moment to stretch his arms and crack his neck to either side before replying, "Not really. I may be remarkably frustrated at this hunk of scrap right now, but there's not much I can do without parts. Most of it's fixed already. Besides, no offence, but there's not much you could do to help anyway." He glared at the ship, almost as if he expected it to repair itself by the force of his will alone, before adding, "If dad hadn't made this I would have either sold it or destroyed it long ago; it's cost me far too much time, money and effort to fix." He punctuated his statement by giving the ship a swift kick, causing it to shake violently on it's supports; it was a testament to the integrity of the hull that there wasn't a dent in it when he withdrew his foot.

She nodded and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, "I'm surprised it lasted this long with the way you were jumping all over the place."

He sighed, "It almost didn't. I was constantly having to repair the mongrel; I'd just get one system fully functional when something else would go down. If I hadn't managed to juice up the re-entry shields, and keep them juiced, there probably wouldn't be a ship left."

"But I'm sure we can get the parts you need if we land some place," Pi remarked almost hopefully, though for what reason he couldn't tell.

He sighed again, shrugging his shoulders before replying, "Somehow I doubt anywhere's gonna have the parts _I_ need. Dad just _had_ to make this himself didn't he? It's so fucking complex in there you practically need a masters in quantum mechanics just to tweak the short-range radio. I could probably make the parts myself if need be, but I'd still need materials, and there's not much chance of finding what I want in this floating tomb." His frustration had started to come out into his speech, showing just how much it was getting to him; Kaen was a master at hiding his emotions.

She grinned almost ferally, "I'll see what I can do."

Stretching his arms again, he inclined his head towards his portable computer, "I've got the ship's computer running a complete diagnostic, trying to get a list of everything I need. I assume it's a long list, 'coz it's been going for two hours now, and isn't finished yet." So that's why it was there. Taking a quick look at the screen from where she stood, she could see that, sure enough, what looked like a diagnostic program was running in the foreground, but she could also see there were a couple more programs running in the background, one's he'd failed to mention.

Filing this little bit of information away for later she nodded and gave him a quick kiss, saying, "Well don't worry, I'll make sure we land somewhere you can get what you need." With that, she trotted off, thinking a bit on what she'd just found out. Obviously, there was something, or several something's, on that computer he didn't want her to know about, but what could it be? She knew he still kept things from her; she didn't expect him to share everything with her, like he didn't expect it from her. But nonetheless, she was curious as to what it could be.

He raised an eyebrow at her departing back, muttering, "Now why don't I like the sound of that..." before shrugging to himself and returning to his work.

o-o-o

Elsewhere in the ship, Kat finally emerged from her room, a scowl firmly set on her face; she was _sick_ of wearing the same stupid outfit day in and day out. She didn't even _like_ the Cold Empire, let alone work for them, so why did she have to wear their uniform all the time? It was the life of a thief however; she had to travel light, thus she couldn't carry around several changes of clothes, so when an accident in the training room had more or less toasted the ones she'd had, this was all that was left.

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't notice Pi approaching at a brisk walk; Pi had only recently taught her how to sense ki, so she still had to concentrate on it to feel other people's ki signatures, but she'd been told it would take time. In any case, she didn't even notice Pi was there until the older girl had grabbed her arm and started more-or-less dragging her in the direction of the bridge.

Startled, she cried indignantly, "Hey, let go!" Inside, she knew that fighting was useless; Pi _always_ got what she wanted in the end. Nevertheless she felt she had to put up a show of resisting, just like her brother would. She almost tripped as that thought hit her. Sure, the pair of them had adopted her in all but name, but it still surprised her how easily she thought of Kaen as family, especially considering how she'd grown up these past years thinking of him.

Again she was startled out of her thoughts as Pi declared, "Time for us to land this tub and go on a shopping spree!"

Now _this_ Kat was _not_ expecting, and the scowl left her face in an instant as she exclaimed excitedly, "Really? Awesome! I'm sick of wearing this stupid outfit all the time!" In her excitement, she failed to notice that what she wore was almost identical to what Pi wore, but it seemed Pi shared her contempt for the uniform, even if her version was considered 'Saiyan battle armour', and thus part of her culture.

Instead, she just nodded, "Then it's decided." Kat just nodded herself in turn, and, in her eagerness, almost managed to outpace Pi in her walk. Almost; as it was, she was easily keeping up, which was quite an achievement.

o-o-o

Once they entered the bridge, Pi whispered, "So, how do we get this thing on the ground of the nearest planet with a decent place to buy stuff?"

"First thing to do would be to find the nearest trade hub. They've usually got the best stuff, 'coz everyone who's anyone passes through those at some point," Kat whispered back to her co-conspirator, sliding into her seat to begin said search. Pi, for all her travelling, didn't know that much about the general workings of the galaxy; unlike Kat, her travelling was more of a chase than a journey, so she didn't really have that much time to look around.

Pi just stood innocently by her side, looking over her shoulder, and occasionally casting a glance around the room in a bored fashion. Looking at Avery, if she didn't know better she'd have sworn he was asleep, except for the fact that the birdman _never_ seemed to sleep, especially at his post. And Frost, sitting at his console as usual, glanced at the pair for a moment, in obvious curiosity at what they were doing, but he wisely decided against saying anything; they were unpredictable enough individually, together there's no telling what they'd do to him if he spoke out.

"Found one!" Kat said in an excited whisper, trying very hard to keep her voice down, "And it's very close too, like a few minutes away; if we were any slower we would've gone right past it." Her attempts to keep her voice down were successful; Frost heard nothing. However, he did feel a chill race down his spine, and he shuddered; something he was not going to like was about to happen, but he had no idea what. Entering the co-ordinates, Kat began searching her console for the right button, muttering, "Now, where is it..."

Pi pointed to one of the buttons, one that had drawn her attention, "Is it that one?"

Smirking slightly, Kat just replied, "There's only one way to find out..." before pushing the button. In all honesty, she had _no_ idea what it did; it could have been the self-destruct button for all she knew, assuming one existed. Not knowing what it was didn't stop her pushing it, however.

It was obviously the right button, as within seconds of pushing it the ship jolted suddenly before veering off course, throwing all it's passengers off balance. Pi could 'hear' another string of curses from her mate, and she started giggling guiltily. She wasn't helped any as Frost almost fell from his seat, managing to grab a hold of something at the last second, or as Avery actually _did_ fall out of his seat, hitting the steel floor and waking up with a start; obviously, for once appearances _weren't_ deceiving, and he _was_ actually asleep.

Frost wisely said nothing on the matter, as Avery stood up indignantly and cast a glare around the room, almost daring anyone to say anything, before sitting back down again at their silence; he may have wanted to begin shouting at Kat, who was obviously at fault here, but she had Pi beside her, and, while he would never admit it out loud, she was scary even for a Saiyan, especially when defending her family, of which Kat was now a part of, much to his chagrin.

Looking at the two women, Frost asked, "What the hell happened?"

Kat, the very picture of innocence, just looked at Pi and said, "I don't know, do you?"

Pi just shrugged, looking just as innocent as her younger counterpart, "On a ship no-one really knows how to fly, anything could go wrong, I suppose."

Still with the innocent look on her face, Kat turned to Frost and answered, "It must have been a system glitch; those are remarkably common. I guess we'll have to land somewhere and run a full diagnostic."

Frost threw his hands into the air; those two were incorrigible. He knew they did something, and _they_ knew he knew they did something, but he couldn't prove it; it was the look on their faces that gave them away, as the first person to declare innocence is almost always the guilty party, but again, he couldn't prove it. Instead he just grumbled, "This is just what I need, either a pair of liars of a real system glitch. Honestly, what did I do to deserve this?"

Kat's innocent look melted into one of anger as she barked, "Are you calling me a liar?" On some level she _knew_ she was a liar in this context, but the more time she spent with her new family, the more she started to act like them, and one of the first additions to her psyche was Saiyan pride; she _had_ to defend herself, even if she was in the wrong.

Frost just shot an icy glare back, and employed a slang saying he'd heard, "If the shoe fits..."

This was the scene Flute walked into, interrupting with, "I take it we have been... diverted?"

"You could say that," the now-awake Avery remarked dryly.

Flute remained his stoic self, "How far, for how long, and for what purpose?"

The birdman just shrugged, inclining his head towards the girls and saying, "Beats me. Ask them, it's their doing." Hearing this, Pi shot him a heated glare, but he just looked back coolly; he may have been on the verge of pissing himself, but he wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of knowing it.

Flute looked at the two women, "Well?" Pi, however, remained fixed on Avery, and Kat on Flute; it wouldn't have been surprising if Kat didn't even know the Namek was there. Getting annoyed at being ignored, Flute half-shouted indignantly, "I don't care whose fault it is, I just want to know how long it will take."

Breaking the staring contest to look at the green man, Frost replied, "They say it's a 'system glitch', so about two hours for diagnostics, with a slight chance of it taking longer if there actually _is_ a problem, which I doubt." Flute just looked at the two girls again, then back to Frost, before nodding once and walking off. Frost just shook his head, muttering to himself, "Where the hell are we going now?" but not expecting an answer.

_"Hey, could you give me some warning next time you plan to do that?"_

The telepathic message caused Pi to visibly jump; she'd forgotten about Kaen in the hangar, and his mental shout startled her. She calmed down quick enough, replying, _"Sorry about that,"_ but the others around her were still curious as to why she jumped in the first place.

He sighed, _"It's no problem really; it's just that when the ship lurched it dislodged my ship, causing it to fall off the supports... And onto me."_

She physically gasped, increasing the others' curiosity, but she had to fight back laughter as she replied, _"I'm sorry... But it couldn't have hurt that thick head of yours all that much."_

He fought back a growl, and she'd almost swear she could feel him wince, _"It's not my head it landed on..."_ There was only one place it could have landed that she knew would make him wince, and while she truly did feel sorry for him, the humour continued to flow through the bond like water.

Frost shook his head, "Great, she's laughing. Things can only get worse from here."

Dropping her glare in favour of ignoring Frost completely, Kat turned to her sister and asked, "What's so funny?"

Pi had to fight back a smile, "Kaen's ship fell on him when we made that turn." Kat was visibly caught between wincing in sympathy for her brother, and laughing at his misfortune; eventually, she settled on the latter, and Pi joined her soon after, while Frost just cursed softly in Aisu-Go. Quickly getting over her humour as an idea hit her, Pi nudged Kat and exclaimed, "Hey, we should go get Viola!" Kat's eyes lit up, and this time, she began dragging Pi out, for the all of two steps it took for the Saiyan girl to take the lead again.

o-o-o

Viola was, as per usual when she and Flute went their separate ways, meditating on the holo deck, and, as people were often dropping in unexpectedly, she wasn't too surprised when she felt the young Saiyan and Neko girls come in. She was, however, surprised as to why they were there, which became evident as Pi said with a smile, "We'll be landing someplace soon."

Opening her eyes, the Namek woman asked curiously, "Are we there already? I thought it was going to take longer."

Pi kept smiling, but she subtly nudged Kat, to get her to fill Viola in. Her eyes shining in that unique way that only cats can do, the young Neko exclaimed, "We're going shopping!"

One eyebrow raised, Viola replied boredly, "And?"

Pi's expression became one of confusion - did Viola not see the thrill that only shopping could produce? - but she quickly shook it off, "You seem to wear the same thing every day. Kat, how about we find Viola a nice new wardrobe?"

Kat just nodded excitedly at the prospect, "Yes, let's."

Now it was Viola's turn to look confused, "Why?"

Pi just smirked, a wild glint in her eye, "So you can have something to wear that will catch Flute's eye, make him turn his head a little more often in your direction, hmm?"

This comment caused her to instinctively blush instinctively, and she stuttered, "W-why would I want to do that?" Obviously, Viola was _not_ the most feminine of females in the galaxy, but chances are she was the most feminine of her race, which said a lot.

Pi just giggled slightly, using Viola's moment of distraction to grab Viola with her free arm and pull her up, "Don't worry, we'll take care of you, right Kat?" The younger girl just giggled herself, releasing Pi and taking a hold of Viola's other arm, nodding her agreement excitedly.

With a sigh, Viola just accepted her fate; like Kat, she knew that once Pi had decided on something there was nothing you could do to stop her from getting it. As the two girls started to drag her off the ship made another jolt, this one softer than last time, before everything was still; they had arrived. Thus, Pi began to lead on to the hangar, the place where everyone assembled whenever they arrived somewhere new.

o-o-o

When they got there, they saw that the four men had already arrived; well, three of them had arrived, Kaen was already in there before all this started. Frost obviously had something to say, but for now he held his tongue, as Kaen climbed partially out of his ship, pulling four bags of something out of a hidden compartment in there and throwing them at the women, with a cry of "Catch."

Pi caught them with ease - it was hardly Kaen's best throw - and Kat managed to catch them as well, but only just managed to avoid getting hit in the face; they were quite heavy. Weighing the bags in her hands, Kat turned to her brother and asked curiously, "What are these for?" Pi just grinned and tucked them into her belt pouch; she already knew what it was.

Kaen just laughed and replied, "Well, judging by how excited Pi is, I can only assume you're going shopping, and thus the three of you will need funds. In the two bags you've each got, there's enough to buy yourself a good interplanetary ship..." he grinned a bit before adding, "Or cover one of Pi's splurging sprees. Barely." He smirked good naturedly, "Consider it your allowance."

Pi just grinned at him, but still managed to give him an indignant, albeit weak, glare; she had an image to protect. Kat, however, turned to the Namek between them before turning back and asking, "But what about Viola?"

Climbing back into his ship for a minute he just replied, "That's a little thing I like to call 'Not My Problem'."

Kat took a minute to look over what he claimed was 'enough to buy an interplanetary ship'. One of the two bags was full of gold coins, and the other full of gemstones; she'd found gold was a fairly universal currency, and gemstones tended to be used for very large amounts of gold - the exact amount each type of stone was worth varied place to place - but some places would only accept one or the other, so people from foreign planets tended to carry both. Upon closer examination, she found that the coins were unlike any she'd ever seen anywhere before; while one side was blank, they had some kind of bird on the other side, and she'd never seen any of the planet's she'd been on before use that sigil. She made a note to ask him about it later.

Frost took a moment to cast a wry, accusatory glance over Kaen, Pi, and Kat, before clearing his voice to speak, "We have landed on the Rav'tilar trading hub. Diagnostics from our latest... glitch..." he paused, casting another accusatory glance the two girls' way, "will take around two hours to complete, so feel free to look around for a while. Don't wander too far though, we won't be staying any longer than we can help, and anyone not back here in time gets left behind." He knew it was an idle threat, and so did they, but he felt he had to make it anyway.

Kaen just pocketed several more bags - where he got them from was anyone's guess, because he made sure no one could see where his little safe was - before he climbed out of his ship, grabbed his data pad from the bench near his now-closed laptop, and nodded, fixing his coat as he did so; the data pad and laptop weren't 'standard issue' with his ship, but were early purchases when he was rebuilding it that had made life _so_ much easier.

Flute gave Viola a near blank look, one that meant nothing to most everyone, but to someone of Namekian origin, or simply anyone who understood their silent speech, it spoke clearly: 'Would you like help removing the others from your arms?'

She just shrugged slightly, a movement so miniscule it would have been by most anyone not looking for it; her arms didn't even move far enough for her 'captors' to notice. Regardless, the gesture answered Flute's question in the same silent language it had been asked in: 'It won't help any, so I might as well go along.' The briefest of smiles followed it, to add: 'Who knows, it might be fun.'

The stiffest of nods was returned, which in itself said: 'Very well, I'll be on the ship if you need me.'

She gave another brief smile, this one not of amusement, but of gratitude: 'Thanks.'

A slightly wider smile was returned; this one didn't say anything, per say, but communicated a slight feeling of warmth, something that perhaps he couldn't put into words, even silent ones. With this done, he turned and left, moving off deeper into the ship at await their return and departure from the planet.

Kaen watched the display with the barest hint of amusement; unlike the other four, Kaen understood their silent conversation perfectly. Pi, however, raised an eyebrow and tugged Viola on, "We can't waste all day standing here, let's go"; the entire exchange between the Nameks may have taken no longer than a few seconds, but it was entirely too long for her. Pausing a moment, she turned to her mate and asked, "Kaen, will you be coming with us? We'll need some help bringing things back."

He snorted inaudibly, 'Yeah, I'll bet you do.' He shook his head, replying, "I'm sorry Pi, but as much as I'd love to be your 'assistant'..." his sarcasm was so thick you could almost see it, "I have a few things I need to purchase of my own. Quite a lot actually," he paused, looking at Frost with an expression that said 'the offer's there if you want it', before continuing, "so I won't be able to come along with you this time. Besides, it'll only make it more worthwhile for you to show me what you bought later, won't it?"

She nodded, "Okay, I'll buy something nice for you then." Then, she turned to Frost, "So, you'll come with us won't you?"

He was visibly torn. On one hand, there was the prospect of watching three women change outfits for a while, which proved tempting beyond all belief; Kaen obviously didn't mind Frost going along, or the warning glance before would have been a warning glare. On the other hand, Kaen's 'jokes' about her spending habits, and his obvious evasion of tagging along, spoke more warning than any other subtle hints he'd ever known.

Eventually, he chose to trust his gut instead of his libido and replied, "Sorry, but I need to stay here. Flute won't appreciate me out there wasting time when I could be fixing this latest glitch, and I don't need more enemies. Besides, there's a good chance someone out there might think I'm Frieza, and that can only cause trouble, more trouble than it's worth." With that he fled in as stately a manner as he could manage, locking eyes with Kaen for a brief moment before hurrying past, but that moment was all he needed to see Kaen's reaction; his eyes alone clearly said the message 'Wise choice'.

Pi was visibly annoyed at this, her tail lashing around behind her, as she scanned the hangar for anyone else. Avery, seeing he was now, essentially, alone, instantly raised his hands defensively and declared, "Oh no, you're not dragging me along."

Kat just giggled, ignoring him in favour for turning to Pi and saying, "Isn't that cute? He thinks he has a choice." Pi just giggled as well before she released Viola into Kat's care to take a firm grasp on Avery's arm; he fought back a wince at her grip, before slumping his shoulders in defeat. Pi just smiled triumphantly as she led on, dragging Avery behind her. Kat and Viola followed her, but while Kat still had her arm, Viola was now walking under her own power; at least she wasn't the only one here against her will.

Kaen just smirked, waved, and said, "Take care ladies." before heading off without waiting for a reply; it was obvious his statement was as much about saying goodbye as it was taking a jibe at the unfortunate birdman. Avery took a moment to glare in the direction Kaen had disappeared, before a not-so gentle pull on his arm reminded him to keep up.

"Come on, this'll be fun!" Pi declared, leading the way out of the ship and into the bustle of the trade hub.

o-o-o

Kat looked around excitedly as the group of four walked along the busy streets. It always excited her to explore an alien world, and this time was no exception. In fact, she was actually _more_ excited that usual, because not only did she get to explore a new world, she got to shop! It seemed that Viola and Avery didn't share her eagerness though; the pair of them already looked bored, and they hadn't done anything yet.

Pi noted a store on the left she wanted to visit, and, with all the authority of a drill sergeant, immediately began dragging Avery in that direction, not bothering to check if the other two women were following her; she knew Kat would, and Viola wasn't likely to run away. Sure enough, Kat was so close behind her she was in danger of walking on the older girls heels, and, while Viola dragged her feet a little, she did enter the store.

From it's display stock, the store appeared to be one made for women's undergarments and lingerie. Avery's eyes shot open in equal parts shock and horror; what was she _thinking_? Of all places she had to go to first, why did she pick here? Maybe she wanted to get it out of the way so she could spend more time elsewhere? Honestly, he had no idea, but he wisely chose to face out of the store, to avoid getting in trouble, but remained close enough to be there should any of them need him for anything; just what that 'anything' could be scared him to the core.

The second she entered the store Kat raced off to begin her splurging; two hours was not _nearly_ enough time for a shopping spree, especially when it had been _months_ since she'd last even _seen_ a store. Viola, however, looked lost. She'd never seen anything like the likes of this before; after all, when you're part of an asexual race, or at least a race _thought_ to be asexual, there was little to no need for such things. Seeing this, Pi began searching for things for Viola, as well as for herself, and giving her a basic rundown as to what lingerie was as she shoved a pile of clothes into her arms and pushed the woman towards the change rooms.

Blushing slightly, Viola looked over what Pi had 'handed' her, taking a moment to examine them before saying, "We never had anything so... gaudy... back home." Pi just smiled encouragingly at her, so she felt obligated to at least _try_ them; she didn't have to actually get anything, but, for Pi, she'd try them on, at least. This decided, she entered the change room, much to Pi's happiness. Once the door had closed, Pi ran off to try her own items; like her sister, she felt that two hours was not nearly long enough.

Several minutes pass in uncomfortable silence for Avery. While he may have been facing outside the store, he is still noticeably alone, and inside a lingerie store; these facts have kept him under the careful watch of the store's owner, who looks quite bulky, most of that bulk being muscle, and also quite mean. Avery just tries to ignore any scrutiny being under; he figured that as long as he doesn't do anything to draw notice, he's in no trouble.

Several more minutes pass, and before long Avery's in danger of falling asleep standing up. The owner's seemingly decided he's no problem and started looking elsewhere, but that doesn't mean Avery's failed to be noticed by someone else. A young, and quite pretty looking, assistant walks up to him, shaking him out of his thoughts by asking, "Hello sir. Do you need any help today?" Her manner of speech shows that she's not looking for a response, but even were he going to give she continues before he had a chance, "If you are buying for a loved one but are unsure what you wish to purchase, I can model anything you might have an interest in."

He mulled it over for a moment. He prided himself on being good at reading people, and this girl was obviously not asking just to be helpful; there was something more to it. He smiled, although it was more of a smirk, and replied, "Thank you miss. I would like that."

The girl was obviously trying to hide her excitement, but before she could respond Pi, who had rounded up the other two girls and got them to pay for their selection, walked over to him, dumped a load of bags in his arms, and dragged him out without a word. The young assistant looked a little crushed to see him with not one, but three women, but the look on his face as they marched him out of the store showed that he would have rather been elsewhere, like getting her 'help', so she felt a little better.

o-o-o

Avery grumbled to himself as they walked; first they force him to come against his will, and then when he finally finds something he might enjoy, they drag him away from that too! Ignoring the birdman's mood, Kat chirped, "Where to next?" She was clearly looking forward to more shopping; that last stop had hardly made a dent in her 'allowance'.

Pi just pointed to a place her sharp Saiyan eyes spotted down the street, "Ooh, a dress shop over there."

In her eagerness, Kat raced ahead, entering the store and beginning her search before the others arrived, and, while Viola still brought up the rear with Avery, there was a noticeable difference on her face at the thought of more shopping; she looked borderline excited.

As they entered the store, Pi made Avery take a seat in a strategic location near the changing rooms, while she scanned through the varied items in the store, and took a good few in with her. Kat's own hunt was well underway, judging by the way she almost ran to the change rooms, arm laden with items, but she didn't know where Viola was. She wasn't worried though, she'd done her part; she'd laid the groundwork, it was up to Viola to see the fun in shopping. Viola was, in fact, looking around with at least half genuine interest; sure, it was nothing compared to the enthusiasm of the young catgirl, but not much could compete with her in that department.

As Kat and Pi entered the changing rooms, a fairly attractive young woman walked out, pausing to examine herself in the mirrors near where Avery was seated; life had suddenly gotten much better. The outfit she had on looked to be at most half on, revealing a little too much leg and cleavage to be considered decent in most societies, but Avery was far from complaining; while her face may have been very pretty at best, her body was remarkably hot.

Pi made a frustrated sound as she came out of the dressing room, muttering something about the lack of tail holes in the dresses she was trying on, and Avery had to choke back a laugh; _that_ would not go down well with a clearly irate Saiyan, and he might find himself being brutally slaughtered, despite their need for a bag handler. A quick glance at Kat, who was newly changed and also checking herself in the mirrors, showed that she didn't seem to have that problem.

As Kat and Pi began to head back in to try another outfit, and Pi began to move off to find some more, Viola surprised them all by walking up, of her own volition, with an armful of items to try on; sure, they weren't the most flashy of things, but the fact she'd chosen, all of her own accord, to try them on with the possibility of buying them, showed a great change in her personality.

When Pi arrived with some more items to try on, Kat was already checking herself in the mirror. She wore a black dress, fairly tight while still allowing freedom of movement, and half the bottom was cut off, so only her right leg was covered by cloth; when Pi came back out of the change room, she was still there, so she must have really liked it. Pi herself was wearing a short skirt, but her tail was curling upwards from beneath it, so she let out a frustrated groan and looked to the younger girl, "This is impossible. Kat, I feel like my tail is gonna flick this skirt up every time I turn around; how do you manage this?"

The girl just giggled a bit, replying, "I don't usually; this is the first time I've worn anything even remotely like a skirt in four years. Besides," she added with a shrug, "unlike yours, my tail just hangs down most of the time, so it's not really a problem. It only flicks around when I get angry, but even then it never comes up much higher than my knees, so I've never had to worry about it." She giggled a bit again, "Plus, if it gets really annoying, I can just get rid of it!" To prove her point, she did just that, her tail seeming to melt back into her body, before reforming as she giggled once more and raced back into her booth to get her normal clothes on again. Pi just sighed and muttered something about Kaen, and having to fix the clothes herself as she stalked back into the room in Kat's wake.

As disheartened as Pi may have been about the clothes, she still managed to find a great many she felt like buying, as could be attested to when she carried the pile of them towards the cashier to pay for them, followed by the other two women, each having considerably less, but still more than the average customer purchased in any single trip. They weren't done yet, however; far from it. Their bags dumped in Avery's care, the three of them headed off towards their next destination, the birdman making a face at their backs, but remaining silent.

o-o-o

Their next store was a larger clothing store than the one before it, and from the looks of things this one catered to the more 'exotic' customers, having items to suit most every race in the North Quadrant. The three women began their hunt again in earnest, only Pi taking a moment to place Avery in a strategic location near the dressing rooms before joining her sisters-in-shopping at ransacking the store.

Judging from the impressed noises Kat seemed to be making, she'd found a lot of items that took her fancy, and she began piling clothes into her arms. Viola, too, seemed to be getting into the swing of things; obviously, these clothes were more her taste too. Most of all, Pi was happy to discover that the store's claim of catering for exotic customers was true; quite a lot of their clothes was suited to members of tailed races like hers. She, too, began amassing a pile of clothing.

Over by the dressing rooms, a female employee, noticing the alone, bag-laden Avery, walked over and asked, "Do you need any help?"

He shrugged his head, indicating with his head into the main store and replying, "You see the three demons buying everything within a half-mile radius?" Her eyes widened a fraction, but he went on before she could reply, "I'm with them."

Shaking off her mild shock, she smiled, "Aww, isn't that sweet of you?" He scowled at the woman, but she had turned and all but fled as soon as she'd finished speaking, and thus the gesture was wasted on her.

A male passer-by, about 40 if Avery was to hazard a guess, and, if looks weren't deceiving him, another luggage-monkey, gave him a sympathetic look and a quick prayer, muttering, "You poor bastard. May the Great Maker watch over and save you." before scurrying off, as if he was afraid that he too would be roped in if he were caught by them; knowing those three, he was probably right.

Avery just shook his head and grunted sourly, "I hope he does save me, because no one else will..."

Avery watched in amusement as the three women entered the dressing rooms, first Viola, then Pi, and finally Kat, each with piles of increasing sizes; Kat's pile of clothing was so large it obscured her eyes, and she had to rely on the ki sense her sister taught her to find her way to the dressing rooms. He found it amusing that their piles of clothing were inversely proportional to their physical height; he didn't know why it was amusing, probably because he was bored almost to tears, but it was amusing in any case.

He debated whether he should trip the young catgirl over or not, before eventually deciding against it; sure, while it would be amusing for a while, she, and her sister, would then turn on him, and he didn't have his arms free to try and defend himself, not that he would have stood a chance if he had. Still, there were worse ways to die.

No sooner had he thought that when one of those worse ways showed it's ugly face, quite literally; not long after the other three had vanished into the dressing rooms, a particularly round woman came out, round being a polite term. The clothes she was butchering were at least three sizes too small, thus showing far more skin than should be legal for one such as her, not to mention she looked at least three times too old to wear clothing like that, and of all mirrors to stop at to _cough_ admire _cough_ herself in, she had to stop at the one that placed his field of vision right at her ample, and entirely too revealed, rear.

Avery was caught between doing three things: vomiting, shooting the 'woman', or making some kind of derogatory comment, but he realised that there were problems with all three choices. The first would place the bags in his 'care' at risk, and while he couldn't care less, the demons that had placed them into his care would, very much so. The second meant he could have had to free his arm, an extremely difficult feat considering all the bags hanging from them. And the third, while the quickest, and safest for the bags, would put _him_ at risk, as a woman that large could do a lot of damage to his person, and he wouldn't be able to fight back. In the end he merely chose to look away and try to ignore her, as hard as it was to miss; he was afraid to close his eyes, in case the image would be forever burned in them.

Blessedly, the woman moved on before too long, retreating back into the dressing room, no doubt to butcher more innocent clothing; he just prayed he was gone when she came out again. No sooner had she left Pi came out of her booth, dressed in a particularly eye-catching red dress that rested well above her knees, her tail wrapped around her waist; obviously, this was one of the items that catered to her species. Pausing to look at herself in the mirror, she mused to herself, "I wonder, does this make my rear look big?"

Again Avery was torn; he could either answer the question, and suffer any wrath that might come his way, or he could just sit here in boredom. Eventually, he decided to take the risk, keeping his eyes to her head as he replied semi-amusedly, "I'd say 'no', but I'm afraid your partner might hurt me if he thought I was looking."

She fixed him with a flat stare, "I wasn't asking you, and I can hurt you plenty myself." Pausing, she turned away, looking back and giving him a small, cheeky grin, "Thanks for noticing all the same." With that, she gave him a quick wink, and disappeared back to whence she came.

He just thought to himself, 'Alright, no broken limbs, no handprints on my face, not even a real threat of violence. Score one for me.' He didn't voice these thoughts of course, merely content to sit there with an amused look on his face.

The minutes ticked away painfully before Kat emerged from her ply board chrysalis, muttering, "I wonder if they'll let me wear this out..." as she admired herself in one of the mirrors. The outfit she had on was fairly simple in design, consisting of a sleeveless, form-fitting black top, with a medium to high neck, and fairly tight, but not skin tight, matching black pants; both were made of leather, but neither were polished leather, thus there was no shine. Plain and simple, it was a perfect ensemble for a thief like her.

Pi nodded approvingly as she emerged with her pile of clothes for purchase, saying, "It really suits you."

Smiling at her, the young girl replied, "Thanks." She giggled a little before adding, "I think I'll get several sets. It never hurts to have more than one of your favourite outfit."

Pi laughed a bit as well, "I think Viola would agree, but she might break that habit soon."

"What habit?" The woman in question walked up, catching the tail end of the conversation, causing Avery to jump; he'd never seen the woman leave, let alone come back. She had a great many items herself, maybe a dozen or more, and all in colours that either matched her skin, or were various shades of blue, usually light coloured.

The Saiyan woman just smiled, "Oh nothing. Those will look good on you Viola." She grinned, "I'm sure Flute will think so too." Instead of the deep blush that would have been her reaction mere hours ago, she simply smirked in her slight way before walking into the nearest free booth; obviously, she agreed.

Pi shook her head, a smile on her face, at the changes that Viola had undergone because of a single shopping trip. Still smiling, she sat down next to Avery, turning to regard the birdman and asking, "Enjoying yourself today Avery?"

Eyes to the ground, he just groaned, "Please, kill me now..."

She just laughed, "Kaen used to say the same thing. I can't imagine why, this is so much fun!"

He snorted, "For you maybe, but you should try it from this end some day. You've just got to try the stuff on, you don't have to lug it around all day."

She just smirked, "Of course not, that's a job for you big strong men." There was a hint of sarcasm in there somewhere, but he couldn't work out to which word it applied. He bit back an acid-tongued reply, knowing that she was much stronger than he was, and that hurting her would be met with brutal retaliation; assuming, of course, that he _could_ hurt her. Pi just laughed at the look on his face; it looked like he'd eaten a lemon or five, rind and all. "A Saiyan woman would take care of you, might even help you grow a backbone."

She stood and made her way to the counter, and thus, missed the look of depression and remorse that flitted across his face before being hidden again under his apathetic, brooding mask; she had no way of knowing about his past, so it's only natural she assumed he was single. It had been seven years, but seven years isn't long enough to grieve; Frost was the only one that knew he was a widower, and if he knew what was good for him, he'd keep it that way.

o-o-o

After the three women paid for their locust-like damage to the stock of the last store, and Avery had been piled with more bags, they had marched over to the nearest shoe store; after all, what is a new outfit without a pair of shoes to go with it? As soon as they entered the store, the three women went their separate ways, all but one knowing exactly what she wanted already. Kat wanted a pair of boots, or a couple pair, to go with her new outfits, and several pairs of more comfortable shoes for relaxation, while Viola decided to stick to what she felt were 'normal' shoes; in other words, plain, but functional. Both avoided high heels like they were diseased.

Pi, however, wasn't entirely sure about what she wanted, and was able to rope an assistant into helping her. Said assistant was a young Tori-Jin, who looked to be sixteen if she was a day, and despite the constant orders from Pi, she still managed to get a good look at Avery on more than one occasion.

A wistful look filled his features, and he smiled at her sadly. On one hand, he was glad to see that the Tori-Jin wanderlust had prevailed, and that the race would live on; if one was seen off world, at least nineteen more had left after her. On the other hand, he wasn't ready to accept the affectionate looks she was casting his way; normally, he would have loved the attention, but it was too soon, and she looked too much like a younger... her. To save himself from any more painful memories, he turned away forcefully, and the young girl, although a little dejected, had seen the look in his eyes, the pain on his soul, and didn't press the issue.

The shoe store held the girls interest for less time than the other stores thus far, and, after piling more stuff into Avery's arms, they began dragging him out again. A clock he passed on the way out showed they'd only been gone half an hour. He groaned painfully, and the torture continued.

o-o-o

A while later Avery, who's arms were now piled with so much stuff he was lucky to have room to see over them, was now holding himself aloft by sheer willpower alone. He praised every god he'd ever heard of when he noticed a clock in a store they passed and saw that their time was almost up; they had a mere five minutes to get back to the ship, which would be just long enough for them to get there.

Pi noticed the time as well, and muttered, "Darn, that's a shame. Time to head back. Avery, was there anywhere you wanted to go before we leave?"

He just snorted, "God no."

Pi just gave him a flat stare before turning and heading back in the direction of the ship, Kat following her dejectedly, tail quite literally hanging between her legs; that was _no_ where near long enough in her opinion! Even Viola seemed disappointed that their trip was over, but she was better at hiding it than the young catgirl.

Before too long they reached the Icebreaker, a nearby digital clock showing they had roughly 2 minutes spare, and Pi wasted no time in rummaging through the pile of items, searching for her purchases, and hauling them back to her and Kaen's shared room. Kat, in her wake, grabbed her stuff, and Viola waited until the pair of them were done before taking hers. None of the women really paid much attention to the various piles of boxes over by Kaen's workstation.

Finally free from the clutches of the three demons in female guise, Avery almost literally dragged himself to the bridge and slumped into his chair, his head slamming into the console in front of him in a way you'd swear was painful; it was a sign of the birdman's exhaustion that he felt nothing of the blow, as he wavered on the verge of passing out.

Noting his entrance, Frost just muttered, "I almost expected to hear you'd killed them... or yourself."

He didn't raise his head, merely groaning, "If I could have I would have, but I never had my arms free to do anything." Painfully raising his head to look at the Aisu, fear quite evident in the normally cold and calm Tori-Jin's eyes, he almost pleaded, "Please, if they _ever_ even _suggest_ doing that again, please, do me a favour. Blast me." The fact he was asking Frost, the man who looked the epitome of his greatest fear, to do this showed just how torturous an experience it was.

Frost regarded him with a grimace, replying, "Only if you blast me at the same time to spare _me_ that fate."

Avery managed to wheeze out, "Deal," before his strength left him, and his head once again slammed into the console.

Mere moments later the AWOL Saiyan warrior walked into the room, and, noticing Avery, declared with at least a hint of real surprise in his voice, "You're alive? Huh, go figure... Guess two hours wasn't really long enough for them."

Frost just shook his head and muttered something into his control console, most likely something in Avery's favour, but for the most part also unheard. Before Kaen could question him on what he said, the stoic Namek adventurer entered as well, asking, "Is it time to leave yet?"

Kaen just shrugged, saying, "Well, the 'bots just finished loading up the last of my stuff, so I'm done, but I can't vouch for the others. I assume so."

Flute looked at Avery for a moment, then back to the others, and said, "I assume they took him with them, which mean's they're back. In any case, let's be off. We have delayed here long enough." Frost just nodded and pressed a few buttons on his console, and they were away; as soon as Frost had nodded, Flute had already started to move off.

Kaen waited a few moments for the Namek to get out of earshot of the others before running after him; as he left he heard a weary Avery ask if there actually was any glitch, and an amused Frost chuckle, but that wasn't his concern. Catching up with Flute, who had paused when he felt the Saiyan chasing him, he asked, "What's the rush anyway? Stop me if it's none of my business, but why do you need these things so quickly?"

Flute regarded him quickly, obviously weighing up the possibilities in his mind, before nodding, having reached a decision, and replying, "A relentless storm currently harries the planet Namek; it's all but unstoppable. The dragon balls, however, can stop this storm, and hopefully restore the damage done."

Kaen's eyes widened a fraction, one of those minor gestures that spoke more than words, as he replied solemnly, "Oh. How?"

In the same solemn tone, Flute added, "The dragon balls will grant three wishes when assembled. Normally, I would not tell anyone this, but as payment for your services, you may use one of them."

His eyes widened a fraction more, "I see... Well then..." In all honesty, he couldn't think of a way to answer that statement.

"Tell no-one else. The dragon balls may be used for evil, and that, in itself, would cause more trouble than anyone could possibly imagine." His voice was still in that same low tone, but the warning was no less clear.

Kaen just nodded solemnly, "I can understand that." A hint of a smile tugged at his lips as he added, "Although, you do realise that I probably couldn't hide this from Pi if I tried; she has an innate ability for ferreting out the truth. I know she'll be able to keep it between us, but I can't lie to her."

"I understand." Flute replied, a hint of a smile tugging at his own lips, "You and Pi are two of the only four on this ship who can know what the dragon balls can do. We can't afford anyone else knowing."

He nodded, "I get the need for secrecy. If someone like Frieza got his slimy lizard hands on them..."

"We will speak of this another time. Some place with less ears." With that, he turned and continued walking away the control room.

Kaen just sighed, saying to himself, "Well, guess I've delayed long enough. I better get back to work finishing up..." and walked off, back to his workstation in the hangar bay. And so, with a minor delay, the Icebreaker returns to its quest for the remaining two legendary dragon balls.

End Chapter 17

To be continued...


	20. Boot Camp Hell

--- The Phoenix Chronicles ---

Chapter 18 - Boot Camp Hell

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The group stood assembled in the hangar bay, as the Icebreaker settled into a holding pattern in orbit around the location of the sixth dragon ball. The two green-skinned beings known as Flute and Viola were preparing the drop ship for planet fall, under the eager eye of the young Saiyan woman Pi, and the mildly curious eyes of her male counterpart Kaen, the latter of which stretching in preparation.

Their Aisu 'commander' Frost had already made it perfectly clear that he had no intention of going into battle, citing the reason that, given their track record thus far with recovering the dragon balls, a quick getaway might be needed, and thus he had to be ready for that eventuality; added to that was the fact the world below assured a fairly heavy concentration of Cold Empire forces, and the Icebreaker _was_ stolen property.

It would appear that not everyone on board was as reluctant, though, as the sound of fast approaching footsteps attested to, along with the cry of, "Wait! Can I come with you?" The voice was that of the young Neko-Jin Kat, skidding to a halt outside Flute's ship, wearing the new outfit she'd bought: a tight black sleeveless top and tight black pants, both leather-look, if not leather, with matching boots and combat gloves; the only difference was the addition of a strikingly familiar black trench coat.

When Flute made no attempt to stop her, she turned to her adopted brother for his opinion; Kaen, in turn, looked to Pi for an answer. When the dark haired girl just smiled and nodded, Kaen shrugged, "'K, just make sure you don't get in my way." This roughly translated into 'Sure, welcome aboard.'

When the young redhead jumped on, not wishing to delay them any longer, Flute called out, "Anyone else coming?"

Kat just shook her head, though the gesture was wasted on the Namek's back, as she replied, "Nope. Avery made it perfectly clear that the last adventure we had was quite enough for him, so he's sitting this one out." Flute made no response to this, merely setting the ship into planet fall, eliciting an 'eep' from the young catgirl, and a glare at his back; again, the gesture was wasted.

o-o-o

The ship made an easy landing in a remote valley, and, in a change of pace, Flute was the first one off the ship, his would-be shadow Viola on his tail; Kaen waited behind for the two girls. When the three walked up, they noticed Flute crouched on the edge of a cliff, a slight grimace on his face; for him, that equated to a full-blown scowl. Grinning a little, Kaen whispered, for safety's sake, "That good huh?"

The green man made no reply, merely watching over what could only be a large encampment of Cold Empire forces; a training camp, by the look of things. Kaen had to physically restrain himself from breaking out into evil laughter, and even Pi had to fight off giddy excitement. Turning back, Flute asked dryly, "The dragon ball is down there; any ideas?"

Kaen's grin just widened, "Of course, but I don't think you'd like my idea..."

Flute's reply was a sharp, "Anything that will not cause the dragon ball to be destroyed is fine at this point; there is a reason I cannot allow that."

His eyes scanning the camp below the ridge, Kaen asked quietly, "So, any ideas as to a rough location, so we can leave that part intact?"

"We could cause a distraction further down, or attack them without ki attacks," Pi added.

Flute inclined his head towards the large tent in the centre - the commander's tent - as he replied, "In there, as far as I can tell."

"I'll get it," Kat piped up, breaking the others from their musing. Slipping her coat off, she cast her gaze over the others, adding, "Gimme a minute to get close enough, then make a diversion somewhere else in the camp, 'k?" When they nodded their agreement, she collected a small amount of dark ki in her hand, raising it above her head and releasing it with a whispered, "Eclipse." As a shroud of darkness settled over the area - a surprisingly large area for the little ki she used - another whispered technique was heard; "Cloak of Shadows."

"You have sixty seconds," Flute commented to the darkness, knowing the cat girl's sharp hearing would pick it up, as she slipped away from the group and into the camp.

"You know, this is almost too easy," Pi muttered, "You can tell they're rookies; if they knew any better, they'd realise it's a set up." Kaen just nodded his agreement, the gesture lost to the surrounding darkness.

Kat slipped into the tent, her sharp feline eyes searching inside for the dragon ball. Spotting the commander stumbling around, she felt a grin slide onto her face, but pressed on, mildly panicking with the knowledge her time was almost up; it had taken her longer to sneak into the camp than she'd guessed. Spotting the ball on an ornate looking pedestal, she quickly snatched it, racing out of the tent as fast as she could; a flare of ki at the edge of her senses informed her that the time for stealth had passed. Her minute was up.

Flute stood up on the ridge, flaring his ki both to signal Kat, and to draw every scouter in the camp to his location; time was up. Kaen followed suit, but he carried through with creating a proper 'distraction', making, and firing, a Supernova into the camp, completely obliterating one of the tents; 9 soldiers died in the blaze.

The light suddenly came back in the camp. There was no fade in; one second, total darkness, the next, midday light. With the legion temporarily blinded, Kat raced through the camp, trusting the ki sense her brother taught her to be her eyes; with her night vision, she herself had been blinded with everyone else.

There was a crush of bodies as vision returned to the legion; a standard case of divide-and-conquer. Close to three-dozen troupes swarmed each member of the group, all dealt with in their own fashion. As the troupes descended on her, Viola focused her ki inwards, glowing for a moment as she crackled with lightning, before her physical form faded out, leaving a humanoid being made of pure lightning, and the soldiers found out the hard way that her latest technique was rather... shocking.

Clutched her hands together into a hammer blow, Pi charged her hands with ki, slamming them into the ground with a cry of, "Titan's Maw!" The ground opened up under a cluster of enemies, four managing to scramble out of the jaws of earth before they closed; twenty-two others weren't nearly as lucky.

Charging a ball of energy into a fist he lobbed it over his head, shouting the name of "Cluster Bomb!" The ball of ki exploded into four, slightly smaller balls, all different colours, which fell into the throng of enemies. Three exploded in a surge of ki, while the fourth erupted into a haze of vapour, searing the flesh of those caught. When the attack died down, thirteen more of the troupes had been killed; an unlucky number, to be sure.

After such a display of power, the counter attack was, put simply, pathetic. Kat ducked and weaved between enemies, pulling up short one second, diving above or below a body the next, until she made her way back to the cliff without a single attack being landed. Kaen, on the other hand, just sidestepped the attacks lazily, before sending them sprawling with a kiai, a flare of ki, and a sourly muttered, "Pfft. Rookies."

As Kat skidded to a halt in front of Flute, she held out the dragon ball, previously clutched tightly to her chest, and chirped, "See? Told you I'd get it!" Flute just tucked the ball into his coat, the two Saiyans inclining their heads towards their sister, matching smirks on their faces as the crush of bodies descended again.

Deciding some vast population control was in order, Kaen prepared his trademark attack - well, the newest version of anyway - but instead of focusing the energy into a contained wave of energy, released it in more of a spray with a cry of "Chaos Inferno!" A massive cone of flame fired from his hands, spreading out in a sixty-degree angle in all directions, and catching no less than thirty men.

Viola just fired a series of ki blasts, her Static Field technique, and while only four were unfortunate enough to be killed, it did serve its purpose; it kept others back. Pi focused her ki into the ground again, this time using Gaia Disruption, and exploding the ground beneath a cluster, killing seven and stunning another nine. Of the remaining troupes not otherwise busy, a cluster or three attempted to off the Namek and the girl, but found their efforts in vain; even while distracted, Flute and Kat were well aware of their surroundings, and more than capable of defending themselves.

With the soldiers momentarily distracted, Kat charged a ball of dark ki in either hand, releasing them to hover beside her, and in an odd feat, the light from said balls created shadows on either side of her. As she cried out "Shadow Clone Technique!" the ki seemed to pass through her body, feeding into the shadows they created, and from those shadows emerged dark copies of her, mimicking her appearance completely, except completely black.

The Shadow Warriors moved to either side of her, facing the troupes like a pair of guards, and raised their hands, firing off a wave of Black Lightning in either direction, eliminating a total of thirty-six would-be attackers, and causing a rare look of shock to flood her brother's face.

Flute threw both his hands forward, the first two fingers on each extended, firing a Demon Corkscrew with each hand; his Demon Twister technique. The rail blasts drilled through twelve men each, leaving a smoking hole through their chests before impacting with the ground, exploding with a shower of earth.

Jumping back from the hot zone a little, Pi raised both hands above her head, crying out, "Share your energy with me!" A pale blue ball began to form in the air above and between her hands, and steadily grew larger as more and more of the planet's energy answered the call.

Smirking at his mate, Kaen commented, "Don't worry Pi, I'll keep them busy." He raised his hands as if her were praying, and with a small flare of ki, a fire burst to life on the ground in front of him, reaching waist height. However, as he threw his hands apart, the flames spread rapidly to either side, defying logic as they curved around the soldiers, trapping them in the blaze as the Fire Wall reached completion; several soldiers found out the hard way that there was no way out of the cage, as the fire was surprisingly solid, and grew to any height needed to prevent escape.

"Perhaps we should use this time to leave?" Flute suggested.

Kaen just barked a laugh, "Leave? While we're winning?"

An unknown voice called out from behind him, "Ever heard of giving up while you're ahead?" The voice was gravely, grating, and almost assuredly belonged to one of Frieza's Elite; the commander of the camp had chosen to make himself known.

Without turning around, but keeping his sixth sense locked on the man should he try anything, Kaen just shrugged a reply, "I don't run from a fight, especially from the likes of you Dodoria." The pink skinned warrior just chuckled, running his hand over his head as though he had hair, brushing along the spikes of his skull, before crossing his arms over his chest, the form fitting armour revealing his built, but not overweight, frame. Turning around finally, Kaen remarked, "You're a long way from home pinko."

Dodoria just smirked, "Well, well, well. If it isn't a wayward pair of monkeys? I'd say I've had to crush far too many of your kind already, but you can _never_ kill too many monkeys, and a couple more won't hurt."

Still smirking, but wordlessly urging Kat to get behind him, Kaen replied, "You can try, but I assure you, I'm no easy meat. Better men than you have tried, and failed, to get rid of me."

Dodoria just slipped into his stance, his gaze focused on the Saiyan male before him as he chuckled again, "We'll see, monkey. We'll see..."

With his gaze focused on Kaen, he somehow managed to miss the, now large, ball of pale blue ki hovering above Pi's outstretched hands. Turning her attack away from the penned enemies, she shouted, "Chew on this you tub of lard!" As the Gaia Bomb sped towards him, Dodoria made to dodge, but the blast impacted too close for it to matter, launching his battered, burnt body back towards the camp. Grunting in satisfaction, Pi muttered, "I _hate_ being called a monkey." Kaen just wrapped an arm around her, smirking pridefully.

Looking over the damage, Flute remarked, "I think it's time we left."

Kaen, however, shook his head in disagreement, saying, "That pen won't hold forever. I say we mop up first."

Flute shook his head in turn, locking eyes in a battle of wits, "Leave them. We have what we came for, and I wish to find the final dragon ball as soon as possible."

Growling a little, Kaen just replied, "Then go on ahead; leave my pod behind if you're in that much of a hurry. I've already left too many witnesses to get back to Frieza, and I will _not_ leave any more."

Yielding, Flute just gave him a discerning frown, muttering sourly, "Do what you must and be quick about it," before taking off for his ship, the now solid Viola following in his wake.

Turning to the two girls, just muttered almost softly, "Go on, I won't be a minute." Kat started to leave, but she paused again when she noticed that Pi wasn't budging. With another low growl, Kaen turned away from them and back to the remaining sixty-odd soldiers penned off by his flames. He closed his eyes, a golden aura erupting around him as he flared into his golden form, and he slowly raised his clenched right hand, muttering lowly, "No witnesses..."

Opening both his eyes, and his hand, a pure black ball of ki rapidly formed before his palm, seemingly absorbing the light around it, and he fired it instantly. The Gravity Cannon lived up to its name; sucking the soldiers into the artificial singularity it created, leaving no trace behind that they'd even been there.

His hair fading back to black, he turned back to the girls, almost smiling as he said, "Well, let's go."

Pi scratched her cheek for a minute, commenting, "That's a new one. How come you've never shown me that before?"

This time he did smile as he replied, "Well, can't really use it in friendly combat; it has the nasty drawback of being quite fatal."

Latching onto his arm as the three headed back to the drop ship, she just cried out, "Well, you'll just have to show me how you do it sometime _outside_ of sparring then won't you?"

End Chapter 18

To be continued...


	21. A NightTime Surprise

--- The Phoenix Chronicles ---

Chapter 19 - A Night-Time Surprise

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It is currently late evening of the prescribed light cycle aboard the Icebreaker, and most people have already turned in for the evening, leaving most systems to run themselves for a few hours, but the ever vigilant Frost still mans the controls, using all of his willpower to remain awake as the tedious repetition of his work takes hold. The young Neko Kat has _long_ since retired, but the stoic Avery remains, seemingly close to falling asleep at his post despite himself.

An alarm sounds suddenly; despite being, by comparison to others the ship has made, relatively quiet, in the overwhelming silence currently on the bridge, the repetitive beeping coming from Frost's console sounds remarkably piercing. The sound has fully woken the Aisu, but the Tori nearby, annoyed at the intrusion, just growled tiredly, "Will you shut that thing off?"

Shooting Avery a wary glance, Frost pressed a button on his console, causing the offending sound to cease, and carefully began reading the display message before grimacing fully.

"That good huh?" The sarcasm in Avery's tone was so thick it was almost visible.

"Yes, that good. Guess what you get to do?" Frost mentioned with an attempt to hide his wolf-like grin; he nearly succeeded.

The birdman just muttered, "It's too late for guessing games."

"Yes, and most sane people sleep, thus I don't want to wake the whole ship with an intercom message, so go fetch Kaen for me will you? This concerns him."

A rare look of shock filled Avery's tired features as he nearly squeaked out, "Are you trying to get me killed?"

"I need to stay here and monitor this, so that leaves you to go get him. Beside," Frost added, a smirk starting to form despite extreme effort on his part to hide his amusement, "with all the shots you've put past my head with that hand-cannon of yours, consider this a taste of your own medicine."

Growling to himself tiredly, and muttering under his breath the many ways he'd make Frost pay should this not go well, he wandered of, praying to live out the night.

o-o-o

After their long training session, and equally long evening meal, Pi smiles as she contently rests against Kaen, as they lay in bed together. About this time, they usually did one of two things together, and, fortunately for the approaching Avery, tonight they were, at Pi's discretion, doing the safer-to-interrupt of the two activities: talking.

Smiling at her slightly, Kaen wraps an arm around her shoulders and just holds her, something he'd always secretly enjoyed when they used to sleep in the same bed, clothed, when they were younger. She twisted around a little in mock effort to free herself, like she always did back then, but in reality, she was shifting her weight to make them both more comfortable. Once she'd found the comfortable spot she was after she sighed contentedly, and began, "Kaen, did you ever end up asking Flute what the dragon balls are for?" She knew, through their bond, that they were important, but he'd made no motion to explain why to her, and her curiosity was starting to get the better of her.

He just nodded, his smile starting to form into a smirk as he replied, "Yup."

When he made no effort to elaborate it became obvious to her he was trying to be difficult, so, deciding it was best to get him talking, she gave him a decidedly even shot to the ribs, not enough to more than discomfort him, but enough to show him she wasn't going to take accept him dancing around the subject, prodding, "And?"

He took a moment to compose his answer, which made her think he was taking it seriously, but when he asked, "Would you believe me if I said they grant wishes?" she wasn't sure _what_ to make of it. She felt confused at the seriousness she could feel through their bond, but she grew up with him, and was wary all the same.

"I'm not two years old anymore Kaen. Really, why are they so important?"

He raised an eyebrow, scratching his cheek as he replied, "You don't believe me? Huh, then this is going to be difficult..."

She blinked in shock; he _had_ to be pulling her tail. "You're serious?"

He shrugged as best he could from his position, "That's what he said. He needs them to stop some killer storm back on Namek-Sei."

She was obviously very impressed, "Wow, they sound important... Imagine, being able to wish for anything."

He nodded sagely, "I know. I have no idea what I'll wish for..." There was a definite sense of consideration in his tone, showing that this wasn't just an idle thought.

She was surprised at this, very surprised, and sat up quickly, looking at him in shock, "You're going to make a wish? You're not going to kill Flute after we get the last ball are you?"

He snorted amusedly, replying, "No, that's my payment for services; I get to make a wish on them. Besides, I know what they do, not how they do it."

Blinking, she looked down at him, "So... how many wishes can the dragon balls grant then? Just two?"

He shrugged again, "Dunno. If he gave me a number I don't remember, but at least two."

She shifted, putting her hands on either side of his head and looming over him, her hair falling over one shoulder, "So, what have you thought about wishing for?"

Looking up directly into her eyes, he replied, "Nothing concrete. I was going to discuss it with you before making a decision."

"Oh? And when were we going to have this discussion?"

Grinning a bit, he shrugged, "Whenever it came up, which is, I assume, now. I knew you'd ask about them before we got them all; you always were extremely curious."

She grinned a little herself, "I see. Well then, what did you have in mind for a wish then?"

"Honestly? Well, outside of something to do with the safety of you and our family, I can't really think of anything. Immortality sounds nice, but I don't think I'd want to live forever, even if we both got it. I dunno, if possible, maybe bringing Korin back to life. Who knows?"

She smiled at him, very sweetly, both at his definite mention of 'our family' instead of 'my' and 'your', and when he mentioned Korin; she still remembered all too clearly the little boy who was so upset that his brother didn't come home. Leaning down, she kissed him lightly.

Unfortunately, before anything else could happen, a foreign ki appeared outside the door; Avery had finished his short trek. Kaen had to stifle a groan as a knock sounded on the door, and Pi muttered a curse in Saiya-Go as she shifted her gaze from her mate to glare at the door. Growling lowly, Kaen barked out, "What?"

"Frost wants you on the bridge Kaen," was the reply from the other side of the door.

Pi let out a short, annoyed sigh as she lay down against Kaen's chest again for a moment, "I'll go with you, and I can pluck Avery bald while you beat Frost with his own arms." Saying this, she got up and went in search of something to wear.

After taking a moment to admire her form Kaen got up as well, just chucking on the lower half of his body suit and his boots, leaving the top half hanging, and thus, leaving his chest bare. Pi wore much the same, also leaving her armour behind, but she had her body suit on all the way, much to his simultaneous relief and displeasure; he loved the way she looked, yet didn't want anyone _else_ to see it.

As the door opened Avery had to fight fleeing in terror as a glare that could kill lesser beings was directed his way by the irate Saiyan male, who growled, "This had better be good birdman, or you won't live to see another of these crappy artificial sunrises."

Using all his willpower to regain as much of his composure as he could, and to force his vocal cords to work again, he replied, "Frost didn't say what it was about, just that it was important, and had to do with you."

Looking about as impatient as her mate, and wearing a near-identical glare, Pi interrupted, "Well, we won't find out what it's about standing here, so MOVE IT!" Her last comment was firmly directed at Avery, who just nodded, again having to suppress the urge to flee, and began walking as fast as he could without running in the direction of the bridge, both Saiyans easily keeping pace with him.

o-o-o

A short walk later the three of them arrived on the bridge, where Frost was waiting, almost appearing relaxed... As relaxed as one could be at the possibility of imminent death by disturbing resting Saiyans. Said Saiyans were still glaring when they walking in, but this time directing them at Frost as Kaen growled, "What you say in the next few minutes will determine whether you live or die, so make it good."

Frost kept his focus on the wall behind the enraged Saiyan male, in an attempt to avoid being cowed by his glare; it was the smartest thing he could have done, because not only could he avoid seeing the glare all together if he concentrated hard enough, he still appeared to be giving Kaen his utmost attention. "The Icebreaker intercepted a transmission that was being transmitted to somewhere on the ship itself. We have determined that location to be the docking bay; more specifically, _your_ space pod."

Their glares slipped; Pi now wore an interested look, and Kaen a curious one. He mused out loud, "Someone was sending a message to my pod? But... the only one who'd know the signal would be..." His eyes widened as realisation hit him, "Dad!"

Frost maintained his calm; "The message didn't make much sense to me. Would you like it played back?" A raised eyebrow, and an expression that clearly said 'What do you think?' was his answer, and he coughed to cover a slight choke as he hit a button on his console.

-Start transmission-

Voice 1 (male): "...ey, that hurt!"

Voice 2 (female): "Well you weren't paying attention, not my fault you got knocked so far."

Voice 1: "Good thing I landed here, at least the landing was soft."

Voice 2: "Hey... was that light on before?"

Voice 1: "What light?"

Voice 2: "There, under your elbow."

Voice 1: "Uh oh... I hope it doesn't man we broke something."

Voice 2: "_You_ broke something. You landed there, it's your fault."

Voice 1: "You knocked me in here, it's your fault!"

Voice 3 (female): "Oran... Lime... Where are you kids?"

Voice 1: "Uh oh, it's mum!"

Voice 2: "Hurry, press that button again, it might turn it off!"

Voice 1: "Oh man, it better wo..."

-End transmission-

Kaen's eyes seemed to light up for a moment as he said, "Hey, it was the pests. Wow, who thought it'd be this good to hear their voices again; at least that means they're okay..." He trailed off, unwilling to finish that thought, even in his own head, let alone in front of the others present

Pi smiled brightly, "Sounds like they haven't changed much."

Shaking it off, Kaen asked, "Where did the transmission come from?"

Looking over his console, Frost answered, "It was a short wave transmission. It's from a nearby system."

With a puzzled expression, Pi asked, "What would your mother, Oran, and Lime, be doing so far from home?"

Kaen seemed twice as shocked, as he exclaimed, "Nearby? What the hell are they doing off world?"

A dry look on his face, Frost answered, "You can ask them yourself. I plotted the course as soon as you confirmed who they were; I assumed that, if I didn't, pain would come into the equation. Since it's your family, you get to tell Flute."

He nodded, although whether it was to the 'inclusion of pain' or 'tell Flute' statements it wasn't clear; knowing him, both. Nodding to herself, Pi said, "We can go tell him now. Viola told me once that their race doesn't actually sleep."

Under his breath, Kaen replied darkly, "I know how they feel..."

She frowned at him slightly, taking a hold of his hand to reassure him; despite how much he'd changed, he still didn't tell her everything, but she doubted he ever would, because he was too stubborn and prideful to admit there was a problem, even to himself. However, she covered her reassurance in an act of dragging him towards the door, and he merely allowed himself to be dragged, not putting any real effort into resisting, but making a show of it for the others; after all, he had no reason to stay, and every reason to go.

Once they'd gone, Avery seemed to go limp, falling bonelessly into his chair, and sighing in relief. Frost, too, slouched down in his seat, letting out a long breath he hadn't realised he was holding. The Torian seemed too relieved he'd survived to even _think_ of attempting to payback Frost for putting him in that situation in the first place, the two simply sharing a look that showed how glad they were to still be alive. Standing, Frost declared, "I think we earned whatever little rest we may receive tonight," and, as Avery nodded, he activated the autopilot, and the two walked off in silence.

o-o-o

In the elevator, Pi threw her arms around her mate, feeling a little more than excited at the prospect of seeing them again, and, while Kaen wouldn't allow himself to show it, he was just as excited as she was, probably more so. Punching him in the same place she had before, she said, "Stop acting like that stone that sits in your head sometimes. You're excited, act it out a little."

He just shrugged, his face quirking a little as though about to smile as he replied, his voice bland, "For one such as I, it's not as easy as you make it sound. However..." He sighed wistfully, the smile breaking through and his eagerness starting to filter into his voice as he added, "I will admit I missed the little creeps, even if they _did_ wake me at the crack of dawn more times than I should've let them get away with."

Smirking a little, she commented, "Your mother is there too. I should tell her how stubborn you're being."

Not allowing her to goad him, he just nodded once and replied dryly, "You do that."

"I will." Her tone was just as dry as his, and he just shrugged, as if to say he didn't care either way. After all, he mother _knew_ how stubborn he was; he got it from her!

They got off at the living quarters level, walking to where Flute's room was, the same room he shared with Viola, and always had, yet denied there was anything out of the ordinary about it at the time; after all, when they'd arrived on this ship there was 'apparently' nothing going on between them. Kaen just spiked his ki, knowing that it was as good as knocking as far as Flute was concerned, possibly better depending on how deep his meditation was.

The man himself appeared at the door within moments, looking the two over before asking, "How long will this detour be?" Kaen raised an eyebrow, asking in their silent language of gestures 'You know there's a detour, or was it just an educated guess?' before shrugging, his way of adding 'I don't know exactly, but no longer than necessary.' his expression remaining as flat as before, Flute answered the silent statements, "Educated guess; it can only happen so often before you start to recognise the signs. However, I'm used to it by now in a way; our detours never seem too much time. What reason this time?"

"Family." Kaen's reply was short, sharp, and to the point, and with a short nod, Flute disappeared back inside. Turning to Pi, Kaen said playfully, "You know, we should probably finish getting dressed, unless you want to meet them like this, of course."

She grinned back at him, replying, "He said nearby _system_, so I think we'll have more time than you might think. Besides, the night is young, and our... discussion, was interrupted, as I recall."

Rolling his eyes a bit he said, "Like I'm ever going to get to sleep after news like this." Grinning himself, he added, "However, I'm all for picking up our... discussion... where we left off." Picking her up, he finished, "Now, where was that exactly... Ah yes, I remember now..." Leaning down to the girl in his arms, he began to kiss her neck.

Giggling a little, to fight the moan rising in her throat, she quickly climbed out of his arms, saying hurriedly, "I don't know about you, but I'd rather not start this here..." before starting to drag him off again, but it was hard to tell whether she was dragging him back to their room, or he was pushing her; the end result was the same. And so, with this strange news, and a new destination, peace once again falls over the Icebreaker. At least, for now...

End Chapter 19

To be continued...


	22. Family Reunion

--- The Phoenix Chronicles ---

Chapter 20 - Family Reunion

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As the Icebreaker draws ever closer to the nearby system from whence the strange message originated, there's a certain something in the air. No one knows exactly what the upcoming meeting will entail, but no one doubts it will be something to remember; a reunion of Saiyans usually is. Even the control room is a buzz, as Kat, obviously having picked up on the enthusiasm of her 'brother' and 'sister', is having obvious difficulties remaining seated at her console.

The nearby Flute remained as calm as ever, but Frost and Avery, despite looking as calm as normal on the outside, inside are both worried about having _more_ Saiyans around will do to their health, and the general wellbeing of the ship. Trying to remain calm, Frost announced over the ships intercom, "Planetfall in ten minutes."

At that moment, Kaen was currently doing a light workout in the training room, in an effort to burn off excess energy; nothing too strenuous, but enough. Pi, however, was content enough to just watch, and despite 'nothing too strenuous' roughly translating into 200g's, she noticed little of it; it was a mere 20 times the gravity back home, and the pair of them trained in over double this on a regular basis.

Without so much as slowing down, he mused aloud, "Not too much longer now... I wonder why they're off world... Ah well, I guess we'll find out soon enough." He finished with a grin.

Not too much later, the ship began to make a faint rumble, indicating it had entered the planet's atmosphere. Noticing this, although it would be hard not too, he stopped his workout, turning to his mate and saying, "Shall we?" She grinned back at him and nodded once, so, shutting down the gravity, he quickly towelled off and extended his arm, giving her a mock-bow with a grin still on his face. She just laughed a bit, which was the point all along, and accepted his arm, and the two walked off to the hangar together.

o-o-o

As per usual, everyone was assembled in the docking bay, but before the doors opened, Frost had a quick few things to say. "This area is a jungle. We found this clearing, and the location of the transmission is a short trek away. However, this planet's inhabitants are extremely violent, and xenophobic to boot, the kind to forget about questions and come out swinging, so keep an eye out."

The Saiyan couple just looked at each other and grinned broadly; looks like this trip would be even more fun than first thought. Even young Kat looked eager for a fight; outside of training, she so rarely got to take part in combat. The doors opened into a short clearing and dense jungle, and, wasting no time, Kaen dove out, stretching his senses out in search of any threats. What he found, however, was a little unsettling; the entire forest seemed alive.

The rest of the group was out shortly after, and, taking the lead, Frost called, "North of here, let's move. I don't want to be a sitting target."

The Saiyans kept pace with Frost in front, Kat in their shadow, and the Namek's an amiable pace in behind them, and in front of Avery, who was, as per usual, bringing up the rear. They walked in silence for a while, one of them watching around for danger every now and then, when suddenly a shrill, violent cry shattered the quiet, as seven of the local primitives dove out of the bushes and attacked the party.

Pi, the first to react, swung at one with a hard left hook, catching her attacker squarely in the stomach, and sending him flying back into the undergrowth whence he came, before continuing the motion and throwing a kick at a second, making contact with a sickening crunch that caused it to collapse in a heap.

In a rather unorthodox tactic, Kat jumped and spun in mid air, kicking like a mule, and catching one of their assailants in the face as it charged towards her, causing it, through sheer momentum, to go flying under her doing a loop-the-loop, and ending up sprawled face down in the grass.

Frost levelled his hand at a fourth, firing off a couple of basic, blue-white blasts, and reducing it to a smoking corpse.

Both Viola and Flute had the same idea, using a special ability of their Namekian biology, and extending their arms to attack their foes from afar, but whereas Viola merely manages to knock her target out cold, Flute's attack is _far_ more effective, as the sound of snapping ribs can attest to.

Finally, Kaen simply swings his arm into a clothesline, catching the remaining enemy hard in the throat, and, with a choking sound, it falls to the ground hard, and doesn't get back up.

Dusting his hands, Kaen turns to Frost and states, "That takes care of that."

Flute peered around curiously, commenting, "Interesting. They were able to catch us totally off guard. I didn't even sense them."

Nodding to Flute, Frost added, "My scouter shows power levels no matter where I look. No wonder this planet hasn't been taken already; it's impossible to get an exact threat reading."

Nodding as well, Kaen had his two cents, "The entire forest seems alive. It's almost impossible to distinguish one ki signature from the rest, even for us 'aliens'; the power everywhere seems to drown everything else out."

As if on cue, another attacker leaps from the undergrowth, pouncing straight at the unaware Pi, but before he's even halfway he's met by an errant ki blast from the jungle behind it, reducing it to ash. Pi blinked in surprise, and Kaen spun around to face the direction the blast came from, the others joining soon after, finding something slightly unexpected.

A somewhat gruff voice could be heard, "Damn things are like cockroaches; they run if they see a light, and they come out everywhere." The voice belonged to a slightly taller than average Saiyan, with shortish hair that would've reached his neck had it not stood out almost horizontally from the back of his head, and as he stopped short near the party, his cold blue eyes, deep enough to match any ocean, swept across the group, coming to rest on Pi as he said, "Well, well, well, now I was wondering where you were off too these days missy, after just up and disappearing like that; your parents too."

Kaen grinned, reflexively commenting, "She's in good hands, I assure you," but everyone, himself included, was a little shocked when Pi grinned broadly and hugged the strange Saiyan; there was _something_ about him Kaen felt he should remember, but, thanks to his head injury a long while ago, had no such luck. A curious look on his face, Kaen asked, "Who are you exactly? I have this feeling I should remember you..." Pi's hug showed the man was _obviously_ a relative; after all, like most Saiyans, he was fairly secure in his relationship, knowing that, even were the man not too old, he knew the guy wouldn't have been some secondary partner.

Before the man had a chance to answer Pi did it for him, seemingly paying no attention to anyone else, as she pulled back and exclaimed, "What are you doing here Uncle Truniz?"

The Saiyan, Truniz, laughed, "Uncle? Now that kind of talk is gonna make me feel old! Kinda the reason I'm here actually; nothing like a little genocide to make you feel young again!" He regarded Kaen for a moment, grinning and looking back at Pi, adding, "Looks like you found your runt alive and well after all."

Kaen started growling despite himself at the 'runt' remark. Try as he might to stop it, he was a little sensitive about his height; coming up _just_ short of six foot, sans hair (which added another 8 inches or so) would do that to anyone.

"Look like he's still got his old temper too!" Another voice called out, as the speaker followed the first from the undergrowth. This Saiyan was taller again than Truniz, with similar eyes, and even similar hair, although his hung down to his shoulders, apart from the single tuft that shot down from his fringe.

Giggling happily, Pi cried out, "Dad! It's so good to see you again!" as she moved to hug the newcomer, who joined her in laughter as he hugged her back.

Now _this_ man Kaen remembered clearly from back on Vegeta-Sei, his name was Kellre; regardless of any memory-damaging injuries, it was nigh-on impossible for _any_ guy to forget his girlfriend's father, the man he'd one day call his 'father-in-law'. Grinning, Kaen replied, "You expected that to change as I got older?"

Kellre just smirked back, "Not really, no, but you'd be surprised at what having a mate can do to you."

Still grinning, Kaen shrugged, replying, "True, but some things never change." The fact he made no effort to deny the 'mate' remark, quite a change seeing as how, when he'd left home, the two had only just begun to accept their feelings for each other, but before either man could comment on it, Pi interrupted.

Laughing again, she exclaimed, "All I need now is for mum to be here, and it'll be a true reunion."

Truniz barked a laugh himself, "You don't know the half of it: we dragged two whole families out here."

Before the man could say anymore, Kaen interjected, "Lemme guess, my old man's 'round here somewhere?"

Shaking his head, Truniz replied, "Slow down Hotshot", Pi's family's little nickname for him, Truniz especially, "This is my story to tell."

Nodding, he just said, "Tell away"

The younger of the two older men nodded, saying, "Anyway, like I was saying, I found this planet here on the to-do lists they got, and I decided to call out the old man," referring to Kellre, "and yours," referring to Kaen's father, Avarrdo, "that they been sitting too long with a book in their hand, and a stick up their ass, and that they could use the trip. 'Course, try talking Raene or April out of coming too, and you might as well try telling Frieza he sounds like a three year old girl with a dick up her nose; it'll hurt less. And, seeing as how the twins needed to learn how to cope as well, we dragged them along too, and have been clearing the place out ever since."

Frost gave up any sense of decorum and burst out laughing; _nothing_ amused him more than a good Frieza-bashing. Kaen joined him, starting to chuckle around the 'sick up their ass' comment, before escalating to full blown hilarity by the time the Frieza comment arose, and even Kat started laughing, even though she only understood half of it. Flute, however, merely gave a slight curl of the lips at the reference to Frieza, nothing more, and the other two stoic warriors didn't even do that.

Kellre regarded his brother with a cool look that said 'Watch how hard I kick your ass later.'

Restraining his laughter, Kaen looked at Pi's father and asked, "So, you guys keeping score?"

Smirking, the older man replied, "Yes, I'm winning. Your mother's coming second actually, with your father tied with Raene for third. The twins decided to combine their score, which puts them ahead of Truniz, who is last." The final comment killed all mirth on his younger brother's face, and sent Pi into a fit of giggles.

Grinning, Kaen said, "Not bad old man, not bad at all."

Truniz muttered a few things under his breath, but before they got any louder his older brother cut in, "Come on over to the camp, I'm sure your folks would love to see how you've been keeping after all this time." He paused a moment as he remembered something, before adding, "Oh, that's right, you're meant to be dead. We should try and surprise them somehow."

Grinning wider, Kaen asked, "Got anything specific in mind?"

Kellre just shrugged, "No idea, but hey, you managed to stay alive, and unnoticed, for almost a year, so I'm sure you'll figure something out."

He just nodded, "I'll see what I can do."

Taking a moment to look over the party, Kellre added, "Bring your friends, come on, lunch time soon."

Kaen's eyes lit up, but he said nothing. Kellre led the way back, with Pi striding along by his side, practically beaming at the thought of being back with her family again; while Kaen _was_ worth leaving them all behind, she _would_ prefer to have both. Kaen, Kat and Truniz followed behind them, with Frost further back still, still chuckling to himself about that Frieza comment; he _really_ needed to remember that. The other three kept to much the same pace they had before.

After a moment's walk, Truniz asked Kaen, "So, how long ago did Pi find you?"

Thinking it over, he replied, "I think it was about a month ago now, but it's hard to keep track without a proper day/night cycle."

Truniz just laughed, "I bet you two don't sit around counting hours anyway."

Smirking, he shot back, "Nope. We've got better things to do..."

Truniz just burst out laughing again, and a comfortable silence descended on the group.

o-o-o

As they reach the camp, a large clearing obviously made thanks to the landing of their space pods, two Saiyan women can be seen. One, Kaen's mother April, her hair fairly short, stopping just past her shoulders, yet fairly round; the other, her long black hair falling down to her waist, despite being tied back behind her, is obviously Pi's. With them, two younger Saiyans, in identical sets of armour, except for a different colour body suit, who are helping to set out what looks to be an extremely large meal by normal standards, but by Saiyan standards would qualify as a large snack at best.

Smiling at the sight, Kaen slows down while amongst the tree, to await the best time to make his appearance, letting the others continue on. Frost decided to wait also; he didn't want to cause any unnecessary trouble. Flute and Viola, while they did choose to wait, waited outside of the tree line, in plain sight of the camp. Avery and Kat, on the other hand, made no effort to slow down; they were in no threat.

Laughing a bit at the mixed reactions, Kellre pushed Pi in front of him, declaring, "Look who we found!"

The twins looked up from their 'work', crying as one, "Big sister!" before racing towards her.

She laughed a bit as they approached, "You've gotten bigger!"

Oran screeched to a halt a foot away from her, but Lime just kept running, leaping up into Pi's arms, giggling all the while. Seeing as how his twin seemed to be in no mood to talk, Oran piped up, "Yup! And we've been training too!"

Smiling down at her 'little brother' she replied, "I can tell, you've gotten stronger."

Ceasing her giggling, Lime looked at Pi funny as she asked, "How can you tell? You don't have a scouter."

Pi just smiled cryptically at her, saying, "I'll show you some time." and winking. By this point the other women had come over, giving her a hug around Lime, who was still hanging onto her left arm, and exclaiming how happy they are to see her again.

Kaen just smiled at the little reunion from his place amongst he trees, but when Pi sent a feeling through the bond that could best be described as a gentle prodding, he knew she felt it was time to make his entrance. Using his super speed, he phased in behind everyone, or at least everyone who didn't already know he was there, and said, "Is this a private party, or can anyone join in?"

Purely by reaction alone, April, elbowed her son in the ribs, reprimanding, "What have I told you about trying to scare the twins like that?" It took her a moment to realise just _what_ she'd said, and to _whom_ she'd said it.

In fact, it wasn't until he grinned and replied, "Do they look scared to you?" that the pieces started to fall into place. Indeed, the twins looked more awed than anything else, and this time it was Oran that ran at the newcomer, although crash tackling would be a more accurate description had Kaen not managed to keep his footing. Messing up his little brother's hair, at least as much as it's possible to mess up a Saiyan's hair, Kaen remarked, a grin on his face, "I take it you missed me you little terror?" Oran just buried his head in his big brother's chest; in truth, he did miss him, but felt saying so might be seen as weak.

Recovering from her shock, April casts a quick eye over her son, and, as all mothers know how to do, could instantly inspect everything about him, from how he's been eating to his change of underwear. Raene shares a smile with her daughter after seeing Kaen alive and well; it seems the girl was right all along.

Still grinning as he swung his kid brother up onto his shoulders, Kaen remarked, "You know, for a group of people who was supposedly told I was dead, you don't seem too surprised to find out I'm not."

A short laugh came from behind him, the figure of a man, not too unlike Kaen himself in a few ways, fast approaching from the jungle. "If you were dead, I don't doubt you'd have taken the whole planet with you, and a fair chunk of the rest of the system as well I'm sure. Besides, you're not dead, so why should we worry about whether or not they said you were?" Kaen's father, a master of logic.

Turning around, Kaen replied, "You make a good point as always dad." The older man just makes an all too familiar smirk at his son's response. Setting Oran on the ground, he adopted a mock-angry look, obviously faked to anyone who knew him, as he added, "Oh, next time you build a ship, make sure you make it immune to Electro-Magnetic Storms. Damn thing completely fried my ship, and damn near killed me in doing so."

In a mirroring mock-angry tone Avarrdo replied, "Well, any fool with half a brain would know to avoid an EMS when his sensor array was telling him his current course had him heading into one."

Raising an eyebrow, the young warrior asked, "Have you ever tried piloting a ship when you're slipping in and out of consciousness? Let me tell you, it's not as easy as you make it sound." Snorting, he added, "Hell, I barely remember _hearing_ a warning."

"Yes, well, allowing yourself to pilot the ship while in that state is hardly my problem."

April just smiled to herself, "It's so good to have everyone here, together again. It's just like old times." Pi and Raene just laughed quietly, but Kellre and Truniz put more effort into it.

"You make it sound like I had a choice," Kaen shot back, "Being beaten to the brink of death was never in _my_ mission objectives."

"The fact you allowed yourself to be beaten that badly is hardly my problem either." There was a saying back on Vegeta-Sei, one that Avarrdo swore by, that could basically sum up his, for lack of a better word, uncaring attitude: 'You fight, you live, or you die; there's no half-way about it'.

Snorting again, Kaen replied, "I'd like to see _you_ do better old man. Fifty of Frieza's finest against ten Saiyans, half of which were rookies, and still only one person from each side walked away." Grinning again, he added, "Well, _most_ of one from their side."

"I'm sure I would have, but that opportunity has passed, and I, for one, am hungry." This was an old tradition of their, a little father-son bonding; they would argue back and forth, no-one really winning, before one of them would bring up food, thus ending the argument. Grinning a bit as well, he said, "So, who are your friends? I assume Frost, sitting under the trees over there, is with you, and the pair of Namek's too."

Nodding, the young man answered, "Friends isn't the word _I'd_ use, but anyway. Over by Pi is Kat, who I met about a year ago, and Avery, who works for Frost; I'm sure you can work out which one's which. The Nameks are Flute, my current employer, and Viola; once again I'm sure you can place a name to a face." Saying this, he whistled loudly, calling out, "Oi, Frost, drag your scaly ass over here. Coast's clear."

Maintaining his calm look, although with a mildly sour look directed Kaen's way, Frost walked over, saying, "Thanks for the heads-up monkey-boy." Such a comment was a very dangerous thing to say around a single Saiyan, let alone a family of them, but the insult contained no real spite; nothing that would get him killed today. It was more of a nickname, but regardless, probably the only thing that saved him was the fact Kaen didn't react negatively to it; if he had, no doubt they all would have joined in the beating.

Still grinning, Kaen just replied, "No problem lizard." Their hearing giving them the cue, the Namek pair walked up, the very vision of politeness; despite any inner apprehension they may have had, they managed to maintain their stoic appearance.

April smiled broadly, "Well I'm sure we'll have enough for everyone, but if you brought any more Saiyans we might have a problem."

Her son just shook his head, "Nope, just one Neko, one Tori, and a lizard."

In a curt voice, the same one she always used when he was younger to remind him of his poor manners, she asked, "And your other two companions won't be joining us?"

He looked at the green-skinned beings, then back at her, and said, one eyebrow raised, "They're Namek's mum. They don't eat. Period."

Flute added, in a very polite tone of voice for a Namek, "We only need to drink water, thank you."

April nodded at Flute, a smile on her face, before shooting her eldest a glare that clearly read he could learn a thing or two from his friends. He just grinned cheekily, just like he'd done when he was younger; a silent way of showing that he'd never learn, and was too stubborn to try. And, within moments the third part of the tradition came about as, almost as a natural reaction, his father gave him a thwap over the head, to remind him to be mindful of his mother.

In truth, he barely felt the blow; he'd been on planets where insect bites hurt worse. Nonetheless he made a show of feeling it, stumbling forward a couple of steps before he 'regained his balance', and making Pi, Kat, and the twins burst out into a fit of giggles, which _was_ the entire point. However, when he saw the look on Frost's face, what appeared to be an outwardly overly polite smile, Kaen's face darkened; it was _quite_ obvious that Frost was having a hell of a time from laughing out loud, at _him_. A glare on his face, Kaen just said calmly, _too_ calmly, "Not a word lizard. Not. One. Word."

Frost just made a calm, and plainly put on, innocent look, replying, "I don't know _what_ you could _possibly_ be talking about." Kaen just raised an eyebrow, giving the appropriate 'bullshit' look, to which Frost gave the complimentary shit-eating grin. It was all Kaen could do to keep from bursting out laughing; he would _never_ admit, even under extreme duress, that he considered Frost something of a friend, and thus laughing would ruin the guise.

And, while Kellre and Truniz shared a laugh at the obvious, and poorly hidden, display of friendship, they said nothing, merely heading over to the food; they understood quite well that _no_ Saiyan would _ever_ admit to _any_ Aisu being a friend of theirs, and, similarly, no Saiyan would ever call another out about it. Turning towards the food himself, Kaen asked offhandedly, "So, anything exciting happen while I was away?"

Raene responded, "Funny you should mention that actually, we're waiting on a message pod for news of home any day now."

Raising an eyebrow in curiosity, he asked, "Why? Something wrong back home?" Pi smiled a little as she noticed that he was once again using the term 'home'.

Before anyone could say anything, April interrupted, "I think there will be plenty of time for talking later. Personally, I think it has been far too long since we've all sat down and had a meal together, don't you think?"

He just laughed a bit, "Couldn't agree more." Grinning cheekily again, he added, "Although, I should warn you I've been eating Pi's cooking for a month now, and it's very hard to compete with."

Raene just smirked, saying, "What can I say, she learnt from the best!" and, as the raucous laughter from her family died down, the gorging of a typical Saiyan meal began. It seemed that everyone there agreed with April, it had been _far_ too long since everyone was together, but, as they enjoyed their meal in ways only Saiyans could, little did they know that dark news was on the horizon.

End Chapter 20

To be continued...


	23. The Beginning of the End

--- The Phoenix Chronicles ---

Chapter 21 - The Beginning of the End

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On the unknown planet, the feasting frenzy was well under way. To say it was chaotic would be an understatement, and yet, this was fairly normal for a Saiyan mealtime. The twins, Oran and Lime, seem to have taken up a 'watch' over their older brother and 'sister', Kaen and Pi, as they eat, as if to make sure they don't up and leave again; after all, they've been gone for 4 standard years now, which is almost half their short lives.

Pi smiles at them while she eats, both happy at being with family again, and amused at their behaviour, and while, to an outside observer, Kaen appears to not even notice their existence, it's the subtle things the kids have long since learned to look for that say he's just as happy as she is to see them again, if not more so.

Avery and Kat seem to have loosened up some, obviously realising that they were in no immediate danger, but both seem to realise that even attempting to maintain a conversation with or around eating Saiyans is utterly pointless. A quiet Frost tries to keep his meal as meagre as possible; reaching out for more food comes with a very real risk of losing a limb.

Flute remains passive at the table, seeming as if the sight of people inhaling food doesn't affect him, but Viola seems to be having a harder time trying to keep the disgust from her face; sure, she's seen Saiyans eat before, but that was only 2 - now there's 9 of them! Noticing her discomfort, Flute sends her a telepathic message, _"It's like the sun; try not to look directly at it."_

Now she has to fight down the urge to giggle, opting to take his advice and look at the tree line behind them. _"Good advice. I always wondered how you did that..."_ He just smiles at her, a _very_ faint smile that goes unnoticed by everyone. However, given the food before them, it's doubtful anyone would care whether they noticed or not.

Before too long, the meal seems to draw to a close. The twins finish at the exact same time as each other, facing each other for a moment with a grin before each letting out a massive belch - a standard after meal contest of theirs; this time Oran wins, much to Lime's annoyance. Soon all that remains of the food is a single shank of meat, which appears to be quite tasty looking and, judging from the smell, one of Raene's special recipes.

Avarrdo looked at it hungrily and made to swipe it, but was beaten by Truniz, "Sorry, closer relative. I get first choice."

The shank was then taken by Kellre, "My wife's cooking. _I_ get first call."

However, before anyone could open their mouth to argue, or even blink, the shank was flogged by Kaen, who wasted no time on words, simply consuming it the second he acquired it, a bastardly satisfied look on his face as he did so. Three vicious glares instantly locked onto him, glares that would have nailed lesser beings to the proverbial wall, but it just makes his smirk widen, as he makes a show of licking his fingers. Every non-Saiyan quickly made polite excuses and hurried as fast from the table as they could without looking like they were fleeing, as the stand off continued.

Truniz made the first move, diving at Kaen over the table, but the other two men weren't far behind. Kaen, however, just flipped backwards, avoiding Truniz's fist with ease, then again to dodge Kellre, and again Avarrdo, and he kept going; quite a feat for a man wearing a long black leather trench coat. The main reason for this _wasn't_ to get away from the older men; he could have just as easily flied. It was to clear the camp; well, that, and he was in a particularly good mood.

Truniz laughed, "Looks like he learned to dance like a little princess since he left home."

By this time Kaen had reached the tree line, impacting a tree with his feet mid-flip, and launching himself off it at such speeds his coat was left behind, racing back towards the older men. His father saw the move coming a mile away, already swinging to hit the young man in mid air as the other's dived out of the way, but his fist hit nothing but air as the image faded. Within seconds a kick was swung at his back, but he dived out of the way; Kellre, however, was close enough to catch the leg and use it to throw Kaen with his own momentum.

Spinning acrobatically in the air he landed on his feet again, in just enough time for the youngest of the older men, Truniz, to send a swift fist towards his kidneys. Before it could hit Kaen grabbed his wrist, grinning like an idiot, "Uh uh, not today." The flame-haired young man then jumped into a double kick at Truniz's face, but Truniz instinctively rolled back and kicked up.

Feeling the blow make contact, the first today to do so despite doing minimal to no damage, he followed the momentum upwards, taking to the sky, but was met by a fast moving Avarrdo, who knocked him back towards the ground, and Kellre, who made sure he _kept_ going. Kaen just spun again as he fell, hitting the ground hard, but on his feet, doing far more damage to the ground than to himself. Still grinning, he commented offhandedly, "Not bad, I might actually break a sweat!"

Before he can make another move, three mild ki-blasts are sent his way. Raising his right hand he fired three back, detonating them long before they could reach him; this was responded by larger blasts. Phasing out, he reappeared behind them, growling, "If you want to play that way fine," before raising both hands and rapid-firing off several low-to-moderate (by _his_ standards anyway) blasts at the older men. They reacted by ducking and weaving through the blasts as they flew towards him, Truniz being almost hit square in the face by one, but it's Kellre that reaches him first, giving him a strong knee to the gut, followed by a hammer blow to the back that sends the young man flying back towards the ground.

He never hits, as again a fading image continues his path, but this time he doesn't make himself known right away. The three of them look about quickly, trying to find him again; after all, they don't have their scouters on, and thus Kaen is the only one there who can tell where everyone is. A cry of "Inferno Blast!" rings out, echoing through the trees, but the location of the user quickly becomes clear when the red beam emerges from the tree line at high speed, and had Avarrdo not instinctively leaned back, said blast would've taken his head off; well, if it was strong enough.

They scatter and dive into the trees after him, but before too long the three-on-one fight has dissolved into a free-for-all, after one too many attempted punches went wild, hitting an ally instead of it's intended target. 'Ah, I missed this,' Kaen thinks to himself, unknowingly allowing his mate to hear the idle thought, as he dodges another blow to the face, responding in kind. Each man would've been lucky to have landed half a dozen blows, and unlucky to have been hit by half a dozen, when April, Raene, and Pi, decide they've had enough, wandering over with freshly washed cooking implements, Raene holding two, and each delivering single precise blow, before hauling off their respective loved one/s to cool down.

Despite the treatment, Kaen can't help but grin to himself, a grin that screams 'it was worth it'; the other men seem to share the sentiment. Risking more pain, Kaen just comments offhandedly, "You guys sure have gotten soft these past twelve months. That barely qualified as a warm-up..."

Truniz snorted, "Soft? I haven't felt a gut that easy on my fist since I fluffed my pillow."

Kaen just shrugged, "If I'd have been using more than a tenth of my power, at most, you'd have broken something."

His father, obviously thinking this was nothing more than idle bragging, barked a short laugh, "Yeah, broken into fits of laughter. When did you start fighting like you were the twins age?"

He just grinned, "When I know for a fact I'm in no danger of being hurt."

Kellre grinned, "With my daughter protecting you, of course you won't be." The other men burst into fits of laughter, not even attempting to hold it in.

Still grinning, Kaen added, "Them's fighting words."

The older man just grinned back again, "Then that's between me and my little girl isn't it?"

Kaen just shrugged, as if to say 'Go nuts, I won't stop you.' Kellre shrugged back, but with a wide smirk, replying 'As if you could.' This time, Kaen just rolled his eyes, inwardly thinking 'Don't tempt me old man,' but letting him make of it whatever he wanted.

Truniz and Avarrdo, just getting over their amusement, sighed slightly, before Avarrdo spoke up, "So, what brought you out this way boy? You mentioned the Namek was your employer, mercenary work?"

Kaen just shrugged again, "More or less. Needed funds, as I basically had to rebuild my ship from the ground up, and a way to train, so when some merchant told me he was gonna pay me to fight, it solved both my problems. But as for how we came _here_, we picked up a transmission from this planet that was most... interesting."

Avarrdo scratched his head, "Funny, I don't remember using your frequency; in fact, I haven't used it since I got your death report."

"Wouldn't have mattered anyway; my radio, like most of my ship at one point, was completely fried," he replied. "It was Frost's ship that picked up the signal, not mine. A purely accidental transmission, but one that got my attention." He seemed to be making a point out of dancing around just _what_ the transmission entailed.

Avarrdo just fixed his son with a flat stare, "Don't use that double-talk crap with me boy, if you know what's good for you. What transmission?"

Giving a replying flat stare, Kaen answered, "You couldn't hurt me if you tried old man, but I'll give you what you want anyway. By the sounds of things, the twins were playing around the radio, and accidentally switched it on."

The older man's flat stare became an all-out death glare, now directed the twins' way, the intensity likely to flay other beings; for their part, the twins resembled the proverbial deer in the headlights. Kaen phased in between him and the twins, saying, "Leave them alone. Accident happen, and if not for _this_ one I'd have never found you guys."

Despite Kaen's efforts to save them from their father, it didn't stop April from grabbing them by the ears and giving them a stern talking to as Avarrdo fixed his elder son with a more normal look, "Don't get me wrong, I am happy you're here, but rules are rules. Same for Korin, same for you, same for the twins: my inventions are _not_ toys."

Kaen was going to further defend his siblings, he really was, until he remembered a similar incident he himself had done when he was younger, and the reprimanding that came with it. He also remembered the twins being in trouble for it at _least_ once before, and thus they should know better. Nodding once, Kaen just stepped aside, "Fine, you do your job, I'll do mine."

April paused and looked over her shoulder, the twins still firmly in hand, saying, "Yes son, you seem to do well at it too," as she motioned towards the mostly pock-marked now-clearing, the result of the men's previous free-for-all.

He just snorted, "Please, like I was trying. I stand by my previous statement: that was barely a warm-up."

Kellre gave a short laugh, "If we tried to warm-up between the four of us, there wouldn't be much of a planet left!"

Kaen just shrugged, "Wouldn't be the first planet I glassed, and I doubt it'd be the last either."

Truniz nodded, "Seems that's the only way to go these days. A lot of planet need to get dusted; most of the worlds us Saiyans get sent to are pretty intense."

"Oh no, I don't _destroy_ them, per say, more like... reset them, make the planet start from scratch as a ball of molten slag, " Kaen corrected, grinning slightly.

Truniz just shrugged, "Potato, Potatoe."

"There is something strangely satisfying about wiping out an entire race single-handedly isn't there?" he asked with a slightly wider grin. The other three all shared the same grin with him for a while, before he, turning curious, asked, "So, what's your tally? My memory's not what it used to be..."

The men seemed to take the second statement in stride, not asking _why_ his memory wasn't that good; as Saiyans, they realised that it was obviously due to some head injury. With a slight smile, Avarrdo said, "Between Kellre and I, only seven, but we spent more time in the labs than on the field; after all, good warriors come and go, but good engineers and scientists are hard to come by."

Truniz gave a short laugh, "I've done away with five myself."

A smirk on his face, Kaen just pointed his thumb to his chest, "Eighteen, and counting."

Avarrdo shook his head, joined by Kellre and Truniz, mock scolding looks on their faces, "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Such sloppy work son, that you had to destroy 18 planets? Really, I thought you had more finesse than that." The 'insult' carried little to no real care; after all, they _were_ Saiyans, and for Saiyans wide-scale destruction is just a fact of life. If anything, it appeared as if they had to resist grinning a bit themselves.

Kaen just shrugged, "Not sloppy; thorough. I don't like leaving witnesses, and it's the best way of making sure."

Kellre snorted, "You can wipe out an entire race and still leave the planet whole for re-sale you know."

He growled a bit before he could stop himself at the dark thoughts that comment arose, but he composed himself quickly, "I don't do that anymore."

Truniz just shrugged disinterestedly, "So we figure, but just 'coz you don't work for the Cold Empire doesn't mean there aren't other people who aren't interested."

"Oh, they'll be prime for terraforming in ten years," he replied offhandedly. "'Sides, if you want something in this universe you've got to go out and get it yourself."

A small, polite, clearing of the throat interrupted their discussion, as Flute made his presence known, "Speaking of which. As per our agreement Kaen, we are almost done. I apologise if I seem impatient, but I would prefer to complete my task. Each day, each hour longer this takes can cause more problems for my world."

Kaen just shrugged and waved his hand dismissively, "Don't worry about it, I've worked for far worse impatient people; compared to many of them you've been surprisingly calm about everything. I'll be ready to leave again within the hour, at most." Flute nodded solemnly, making his way back to the Icebreaker, Viola by his side, and Kaen turned back to the older men, "Well, you heard the guy, I gotta ship out shortly. After that I've got a little... personal grievance to take up with a certain someone. Actually, a couple of someone's, but that's neither here nor there..."

o-o-o

Elsewhere, after wandering off in an effort to be as far away from their angry father as possible, the twins stumbled upon the message pod the adults were waiting for. Drawn by the beeping noise it was making, Oran walked over and picked it up, turning to his sister and saying, "Hey, this thing's makin' funny noises. We better find dad. He'll know how to shut it up."

Looking around, and not seeing anything she recognized, Lime replied, "Um... Where are they?"

Smacking his forehead, and grumbling under his breath about 'stupid little sisters', he shot back, "They're right... um..." His face fell when he realised that he couldn't see anyone either, and suddenly remembered that they'd both left their scanners back at camp. Quickly regaining his confident look, he pointed randomly, whether by sheer luck, fate, or irony, ending up pointing directly at the camp, and declared, "They're that way!"

A glare on her face, and hands on her hips, she barked, "How do you know?"

He just stuck his tongue out at her, "I'm older than you, I know these things."

Before their argument could go any further, and possibly result in damaging either each other or the message pod, Pi found them, shocking the pair of them by saying, "Hey, what do you guys have there?"

Forcibly turning away from her brother, Lime piped up, "We found a message pod."

Sticking his tongue out again, this time at her back, Oran chirped indignantly, "_I_ found it!" She just stuck her tongue out in response, snatching the ball-shaped device off him and handing it to Pi, who, in turn, just laughed to herself at their behaviour.

As they headed back to camp, the twins continued to bicker to themselves about just _who_ found the pod. Laughing a bit, Pi interrupted, "Come on now, we can't spend all day arguing like this."

Breaking the argument to look at her, both of them chirped simultaneously, "Yes we can!" They did, however, stop; it seemed that agreeing on something, regardless of what, stopped the argument. Shaking her head, and handing the pod back to Lime, she grabbed them by the scruff of the neck, dragging them off for good measure. They whined and complained about the treatment, like all little kids will do, but they knew it was pointless to fight it.

o-o-o

Before long they reached the camp, and Pi got everyone's attention, "The twins found something."

All the adult Saiyans looked their way, but it was Kellre that spoke, "Well, what do you have there then kids?"

Lime piped up, "We found a message pod," before her twin could say anything.

Her father just nodded, "Well, bring it over so we can play the recordings"

Snatching it from her hands, Oran ran it over. Nodding Avarrdo took it from his youngest son, absently patting him on the head. The boy turned and stuck his tongue out at his twin sister, but his gloating was rudely interrupted by a smack on the back of the head, delivered by his mother, who scolded, "Don't be mean to your sister." Rubbing his head, he just sat down on the ground and pouted, knowing arguing with his mother would be pointless; after all, he _did_ start the fight with his sister.

Avarrdo chuckled to himself and pressed the necessary points on the pod to begin message playback:

"Kzzzta-Sei has been deZzzt..."

He muttered something sounding like a curse before trying to fix it.

Walking over, Kaen commented, "Don't tell me after all this waiting the damn thing's broken?"

Shaking his head, his father replied, "No, no, probably something bumped loose when it landed, almost there..." A little more tinkering, and the whole message began to play, but the news was far from good:

"Warning to all planets in sector 38.257, rogue meteors may be in the area following the reports that Vegeta-Sei has been destroyed."

A rare look of full-blown shock filled Kaen's face. The twins looked on the verge of tears, and Pi fell to her knees and held her head, trying to take it all in; had Kaen not been so shocked himself, and rightly so, he would have moved to comfort his mate, but instead Kat took his place, wrapping a comforting arm around her adopted sister's shoulder. Among the older Saiyans there was a silence that was drowned out only by the feeling of loss.

Frost, watching the information over Avarrdo's shoulder, particularly the visual information of what used to be Vegeta-Sei, commented before he could stop himself, "That's a load of bullshit if ever I heard it." Every single Saiyan in the camp, excluding the two youngest, immediately turned to glare at him. Taking a step back, he forced himself to swallow, "Uh..."

The glare soon faded from Kaen's face, although that did nothing to diminish the anger shown; it was just now no longer directed at the Aisu present. With fire in his eyes, he growled, "You're right. There's no way meteors could've wiped out the planet; it's not possible. The core of the planet's too dense, to say nothing of the surface..."

Frost nodded. "I've seen this before," he began, "That's a planet that's been blown up; there's nothing natural about it. As he said, Vegeta-Sei wasn't your run of the mill planet compared to most others; it's giant. Only someone with immense power could have done that, and I'll give you three guesses who that could be; I doubt you'll need more than one."

The ground started to shake and groan as Kaen's power level started rising to match his anger. With his hands clenched hard enough for his fingernails to draw blood, he growled viciously, "I should've hunted down that bastard and broken him in half long ago!"

The older Saiyans made no move to stop him, believing this to be merely his way of coming to terms. Instead, they just shook their heads, Kellre speaking first, "That would have been pointless."

He glared at them without meaning to; in his anger, he didn't realise he _was_ glaring. His power level still rising, and the rumbling of the earth increasing, he barked, "I could have stopped him! I could have saved Vegeta-Sei!"

Avarrdo spoke out, "It was rumoured that at last recorded value, Frieza's power level was twelve million."

April joined in soon after, "Even King Vegeta was only two hundred and fifty thousand."

He didn't seem to hear them, as his power, and anger, kept rising; if he had, he surely would have had something to say about the king, and it wouldn't have been flattering. Before long, the rumbling became so great that standing became difficult for the weaker of the group, Kat and the twins falling down, while Avery chose, for his own safety, to take to the sky. Cracks began to splinter the ground, and even several trees fell over as his power rapidly approached the barrier he'd come to recognise.

With a final cry of, "I'm gonna kill him! He must pay a debt of blood for what he's done!" his body erupted into a flash of blinding light, his body instinctively adapting to cope with his increased power. When the light died down, the shaking with it, he still stood there, in the same position as before, but now with the golden hair that no longer surprised the crew of the Icebreaker, but through the older Saiyans for a loop, as they looked at him uncertainly.

For his part he didn't seem to see them anymore, his eyes seemingly looking past them; past everything. From the feelings bleeding their way through the bond, Pi could tell he was reliving some particularly unpleasant memories. Moving towards him, she said forcefully, "Stop this! You think that it will help to go hunt him down? I told you, I won't lose you again, and if that means I have to watch you twenty-four seven then so be it!"

He blinked a bit before his teal eyes focused on her, and he relaxed slightly, but his voice was no less serious than hers as he locked eyes with her and replied, "You won't lose me." She kept her eyes locked with his, neither moving, neither blinking, a familiar, stubborn look on her face. Shaking his head slightly, but somehow not breaking eye contact, he added, "Do you think I'd go without you? You said it yourself: together there's _nothing_ we can't do. But he _must_ be made to pay for what he's done to the Saiyan race."

She sighed a little, "Always thinking you'll be the one to do it... I'll be honest with you Kaen. I like a good fight, I like it when the odds are against us, but Frieza isn't bad odds; it's suicide."

He just snorted, "Please. I don't believe he's _half_ as powerful as he claims he is. Twelve million? Ha. Take it from someone who knows, rumour _always_ increases values by a factor of 10, at _least_. Hell, he probably spread the rumour himself! Sure, he's more powerful than most _normal_ people, but you and I are hardly normal are we?"

This time, Frost snorted, "You're kidding yourself. I know you can sense power and crap like that, and I _know_ I can't, but standing next to Frieza you can _feel_ his power, no matter who you are, and that's just when he's in his first stage."

Kat had to bite her tongue to keep from blurting out a little piece of information that Frost either forgot, or simply forgot to mention it for whatever reason: the fact that Kaen, in his current form, was stronger than Frieza in his second, and may even be stronger than Frieza all together. After all, they were trying to talk Kaen _out_ of hunting Frieza down, not _into_ it, and so this would most likely be anti-productive.

Turning to glare at Frost, the look seeming all the more effective given his current state, he stated firmly, "Mark my words. I _will_ see the life fade from Frieza's eyes, even if it takes a lifetime."

Avarrdo intervened, "That doesn't matter now."

He lowered his head, sighing a little, "No, I guess not..." It was only then that he realised his current state, as he saw his golden tail swishing back and forth; he'd become so used to this form he didn't even realise he'd changed into it.

His mother only shook her head, "You always let your tail get away with you when you get upset." She honestly didn't know what to make of her son right now; sure, he'd thrown his fair share of tantrums in the past - every kid does - but she had never, in his entire life, seen as much emotion from him as she saw from one glance into his eyes, not even when Korin had been reported dead. And, on some level, that scared her. It seemed that, after every tragic event, his focus doubled, if not tripled, and now, it seemed, he had focused on the one thing she truly thought impossible.

Finally managing to shake off the shock of everything that had happened in the past half hour, tops, and seeing the current state of their big brother, the twins ran up, stopping less than a foot in front of him as Oran chirped, "Wow. You look so cool big brother! How do you do that? Can you teach us?"

Shrugging his shoulders, and absently wrapping his tail back around his waist, he replied, "Honestly, I have no idea how I do this. I just needed more power than I had one day, this happened, and I've since learned to control it. I don't even know what it is."

Avarrdo, Kellre and Truniz seemed to be discussing something from their position across the clearing, but, as they were speaking so low that only they could hear what they were saying, what they were talking about was anyone's guess.

The twins both seemed very disappointed at his reply, their faces drooping, as Lime muttered, "Aww... we wanted to learn it..."

Pi smiled and knelt down to their level, "It's not fun to learn anyway."

The awed look returning, Lime piped up, "You can do it too?"

She nodded, "Yup, I learned it myself. It was Kaen's fault, and it hurt a lot."

The little girl looked accusingly at her big brother, obviously asking why he hurt Pi, but she said nothing. Pi giggled a little and gave the girl a kiss on the cheek, and Line, in turn, jumped up and wrapped her arms around her big sister's neck.

Kaen just muttered, "You make it sound like I meant it to happen... I didn't exactly enjoy discovering this new form myself..."

Pi just shrugged out of Lime's grip, giving her mate a kiss, "Yes, well that wasn't my fault either."

Raising an eyebrow, he just muttered to no one in particular, "Why am I always blamed for everything, and yet nothing is ever your fault?" She just grinned, but that simple grin said a lot. It said that it was the way it had always been, the way it always would be, and the way it should be, and he would do well to just accept it.

After brushing herself off, Kat walked over to the group, crouching down between the twins and began getting to know them, in an effort to get their mind of the negative things they had discovered today; after all, they were now _her_ siblings as well, and she wanted them to be taken care of. Soon, the three of them seemed to all be talking at the same speed, at the same time, all three voices merging into a massive jumble of nonsense, and yet it was clearly obvious that all three of those involved understood every word completely.

Avarrdo turned from Kellre, announcing, "Alright, we have made a decision."

One golden eyebrow raised, Kaen asked, "Oh really? Please, do share."

His father nodded, and took on a lecturing tone, "It is entirely possible that, if Frieza destroyed Vegeta-Sei, he wants to kill all Saiyans, so it would be best if we assembled all the Saiyans we could before they are hunted down and killed."

Nodding, the golden-haired young man replied, "I agree with you so far, but what do you mean 'if'? You know as well as I do this is Frieza's work; he might as well have signed it!"

Avarrdo shook his head, "The 'if' was implicatory to Frieza's want to destroy all Saiyans; ergo, 'if Frieza wants to destroy all Saiyans he will destroy Vegeta-Sei', not to exclusion of the fact he was responsible." This all delivered with the full force of his lecturing tone, as a tutor to a particularly ignorant, or thick-headed student.

Sighing, he fixed his old man with a bored look, "Always the teacher huh? I see some things never change."

"As long as there are rocks in your head son, there will always be something to teach you."

Kaen barked a laugh, "Then you're going to be doing that for the rest of your natural life. As I said, some things _never_ change." Shaking his head to sober up, he added, "Alright teach, what's the plan?"

Avarrdo nodded, and began, "Vegeta-Sei was a large planet, with a population in excess of fourteen billion Saiyans. Millions leave Vegeta-Sei every day doing missions for the Cold Empire, or just for the Saiyan ruling body, so we are hardly the last. Using the Icebreaker, we can send untraceable coded messages to all Saiyans, warning them about Frieza's treachery, and set varied rally points using the Icebreaker to recover these Saiyans. Obviously, the ship's not big enough to house everyone, but it can hold enough for a large army. We amass them together, and then either go about re-building our race, or preparing to throw our lives away to see Frieza's head torn from his carcass; either is good."

The young warrior just nodded again, "A good plan, as always. I will need to make a final run to finish my business with Flute, but we can work around that, and after that I'm all yours."

The older warrior nodded again, "Of course. This won't be a problem will it Frost, using the Icebreaker?" The pale-blue Aisu seemed to pale even more, becoming almost white, at the prospect of even _more_ Saiyans with a thirst for killing someone who looked near identical to him, but he merely nodded, having to bite his tongue to prevent from babbling how he'd already promised the ship to Kaen anyway, or how, as it's maker, Avarrdo was more than welcome to it, and so on.

And thus, on a day of dark news, a new plan was formed. An age-old alliance had been shattered, and the banner of war had been dropped. A people had been crippled, and their planet lost forever, but the assembled Saiyans knew one thing. If Frieza thought it was going to be that easy to destroy the Saiyan race, he was in for the surprise of his life. _Every_ Saiyan worth his salt was always willing to fight, and for a cause as great as this, every Saiyan would willingly throw his life away if it brought the whole but one step closer to victory. In the end, the Saiyan race would be avenged. It was only a matter of time...

End Chapter 21

To be continued...


	24. Sic Vis Pacum Para Bellum

--- The Phoenix Chronicles ---

Chapter 21.5 - Sic Vis Pacum Para Bellum (If you want peace, prepare for war)

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It was with a solemn air that the newly extended crew of the Icebreaker entered the prototype ship silently. The camp had been packed up, and everything, including their pods, already loaded aboard, and yet still no one spoke more than was needed; there were no words that could accurately describe the loss the Saiyans all felt at the destruction of their home world, and no non-Saiyan was game enough to break the moment, for fear of reprisal.

The twins, it seemed, had no such problem talking. They still didn't understand everything that had happened; what did the message pod really mean when it said Vegeta-Sei was destroyed? It wasn't true right? It seemed the grownups didn't want to talk about that though, so they asked the next thing on their minds, Kat. Oran started, "Miss Kat lady, why were you asking us all those questions?"

She smiled, kneeling down to their level, "I just wanted to get to know you."

"Why?" Lime.

"I guess you could say I'm your sister."

Kaen shot his parents a look that said 'I'll explain later', but it seemed the twins wanted an explanation _now_, as Oran turned to his big brother and asked, "I thought Pi was our sister?"

Kaen just shrugged, "She is."

"Then what does Kat mean she's our sister?" Lime again.

"The difference is that Kat is also _my_ sister, while Pi is my... partner." He figured that partner was the safer word; obviously, his mother hadn't mated the twins up yet like she had him, so they could enjoy their ignorance a while longer.

"Partner?" It seemed that Oran still wanted an explanation.

With a shrug, Kaen replied, "Like mum is dad's partner."

Realisation dawned on their tiny faces, as Lime broke out into a grin, "That means we have two sisters now, right?"

Kaen chuckled a bit at the sullen look on his younger brothers face, at the thought of having _three_ sisters, but only _one_ brother, "Yes, yes it does." With that, silence fell on the group again as they finished their return to the ship, Lime smiling and Oran scowling; they'd got the answers they wanted for now. It was now up to someone else to disturb the uneasy quiet

o-o-o

Once they were all aboard, however, it was Avarrdo, the eldest among them, that cut the tension, "We need to begin constructing plans to amass the scattered Saiyans."

Truniz and Kellre nodded solemnly, and Frost, in a moment of daring, offered, "The bridge is probably the best place. It should have everything you need, and then some." Thankfully, the men just nodded again.

Smiling weakly, April said, "I guess that leaves us women to get everyone settled in then?"

Frost turned to his 'subordinates', if you could call them that, "Kat, Avery, could you show these ladies where they can set everyone up. After that, I'll need you on the bridge Avery; Kat, you're free to do whatever you want."

It seemed everything was decided, the men were going to plan and the women unpack, and the group began to split into two, when Kaen, still with golden hair, turned to his old man and interjected, "I've got something I need to do."

Slightly surprised, Avarrdo responded, "We'll need you to help plan."

Shaking his head with a small grin, Kaen replied, "No you won't. You and I both know that planning was never my strong point; I tend to just hit things until they stop moving and leave it at that." This comment got a light chuckle from the other men, and the women too. "I've been working on this for a while now, and I'll need your help Pi." he continued, turning to his mate, who looked back with slight shock; Kaen was _asking_ for her _help_? What could this possibly be? Grabbing the twins by the back of their armour, he added, "And while I'm at it, I'll keep these two terrors out of your hair."

It seemed this new decision was agreed upon quickly; it was true, they all knew, that Kaen was never very good at strategy, relying mostly on brute force to get things done, and with his personal enmity of Frieza, dwarfing even their own hatred of the Aisu, he may even hinder their efforts. And thus, the group split three ways, Frost leading the men to the control room, although as it's maker Avarrdo already knew the way, Kat and Avery leading the women to the living quarters, and Kaen and Pi dragging the twins off elsewhere.

o-o-o

The newcomers were settled in easily enough. Of the five officers' quarters on the ship, only two were originally occupied: Kaen and Pi shared one, and Kat had one to herself. Frost had the captain's quarters, which he wouldn't relinquish under pain of death, and Avery preferred the basic crew quarters, as did Flute and Viola; after all, the latter two didn't sleep, so they simply needed a place they weren't disturbed of a night time, nothing more.

This left enough larger rooms for Raene to claim one for her and her mate, and April claiming another for her and hers, with the final room claimed for the twins; April wanted them close at hand. This left Truniz to the standard crew quarters, but Raene assured them that there would be no problem with this; the feral grin she gave just showed that if he _did_ have a problem with it, she'd correct it herself.

That done, the women had declared they were going to explore the ship, only requiring directions to the kitchens, before dismissing the pair. Avery instantly set off for the bridge, not because Frost ordered him to, but because he was curious as to why he was needed; Frost rarely gave him orders, instead politely asking him, because he knew trying to make Avery do anything was borderline suicidal some times. Kat just set off in search of Viola. She had her own goal for the rest of today; she just hoped the Namekin could, or would, help her reach it.

o-o-o

The door of the training room opened with a slight hiss, and Kaen and Pi strode in, the former still dragging the twins behind him, and still with golden hair; he was trying to see how long he could maintain it outside of training. As the door slid closed, Kaen released them, waiting for them to pick themselves up without saying a word. Once they were back on their feet, Oran cried indignantly, "What's the big idea, dragging us off like that? That was so undignified" He knew questioning his big brother could, and had in the past, result in oncoming pain, but he asked anyway.

Kaen flared his aura a bit, "The 'big idea' is that the pair of you are pathetically weak. I didn't expect you to be stronger than I was when I was your age, or even _as_ strong, but I expected better than this." He knew he was being harsh; after all, for their age the twins _were_ quite strong, but they were at war now, and 'quite strong' just wouldn't cut it. They needed to get stronger fast if they were going to survive, and to do that, they needed motivation; they were too young to understand the concept of war, but the big brother they adored being disappointed in them they understood all too clearly.

With a slight quiver of her lower lip, Lime shot back, "But we _are_ strong!"

"If you trained us we'd get a lot stronger!" Oran added.

Kaen snorted, "Your both _far_ **too** **weak** for me to train you myself!"

The beginnings of tears in their eyes, they cried together, "That's not true! We're not weak!"

Grinning coldly, his eyes hard, he replied, "That a fact?" Turning to face the protocol droid, he shouted, "Gravity training begin. Program 'N'. Twenty times." With a whir, the gravity increased, and as he turned back to the twins, he saw them struggling to stand, "Not weak huh? This is a mere 20g's; just twice the gravity back home. And look at you. You can't even stand up. Pi and I train in over twenty times this, so how can you ever hope to train with me?"

With this news, the twins willed themselves to stand up straight, wiping the water from their eyes; they'd spent half their lives training to make their big brother proud, but he wasn't proud of them. He was disappointed in them, maybe even a bit angry, so they knew they had to do better; they _had_ to make him proud.

Seeing the new determination in their eyes, Kaen smirked, "There. That wasn't so hard now was it? Now, Pi and I have work to do..." Silently, Pi wondered just what this work would entail, but she said nothing. "So you two are going to stay here and train until we get back. The room's programmed to step the gravity up a notch when you become used to it. Now, if you even _think_ of leaving early, you better hide, and hide well, because when I find you I will beat you until you can't stand, let you heal in the regeneration tanks, and repeat until I'm satisfied. Do I make myself clear?"

The twins nodded vehemently, showing they understood extremely well. It wasn't the beatings they were scared of; as young as they were, they knew, like every Saiyan, they would make them stronger. What scared them was the look in their big brother's eyes when he made that threat; he showed nothing but anger and disappointment, even on the subtle levels they'd come to recognise, and nothing scared them more than him not liking them.

Kneeling down to their level, Pi offered, "Tell you what guys. When you can withstand 50g's without problem, I'll teach you a technique I've learnt since leaving home." This was an old tactic of theirs: the carrot and stick approach. Pi would be the kind one, showing them the reward for when they followed the path, and Kaen was the cruel one, beating them should they stray from the path; if it were an interrogation you'd call it 'Good Cop, Bad Cop'.

Their eyes lit up, chirping, "Really? Cool!" As Pi stood up again, they wasted no time, getting straight to work on their training in the increased gravity. As the mated couple left, Kaen spared his siblings one last look, this one full of pride for the warriors they had become, but it was gone just as quickly as it came; they saw it though, that quick flash of pride, and it was enough to make them double their efforts, as the door closed once more, leaving the young fighters alone.

o-o-o

When Avery arrived in the control room, the planning was already well under way.

"...at's all well and good, but where could they go? There's no way we can look after everyone, so we need to find ways to keep Frieza from finding them."

He paused, looking over their work. It seemed that, currently, they were trying to find out where to send the surviving Saiyans. By the look of things, they had already reached the conclusion that grouping _everyone_ together was a bad idea. After all, a large collection of Saiyans would draw attention, and the forces of the Cold Empire needn't set foot on a planet to wipe them all out; Vegeta-Sei was destroyed from space. In a bold move, Avery suggested, "Why not send them to the worlds Kaen liberated?"

Every eye turned to him; it seemed no one noticed his entrance. With a quirked eyebrow, Kellre asked, "What do you mean 'liberated'?"

Frost fielded that question, "In the past four years, Kaen freed twelve - well, fourteen..." he amended, recalling the planet he himself had helped free, and the training facility they'd recently cleared out, "...worlds from Cold Empire control. They're marked as black spots now - Frieza's not game enough to send troupes there anymore, just in case he's still there. After all, he wiped out a large number of quite a few invasion forces all on his own, and reduced eighteen of their controlled worlds to slag. If he loses too many more, there's a good chance many more worlds would revolt all on their own."

And there it was, another piece of the 'Kaen' puzzle. As the pieces fell into place, it became painfully clear to the elder Saiyans as to _why_ Kaen felt the need to glass so many planets. His reason behind his hatred of the Cold Empire, however, was a matter for another day; after all, now they had their own reasons. Casting his gaze at Avery, Avarrdo asked, "So, which planets are you talking about?"

Punching a few things into the available console, the Torian brought up the starmap, highlighting both the free worlds and the destroyed ones. On the map it showed the worlds were quite a distance apart from each other, almost as if they were chosen at random. "These ones. It seems your son picked and chose as he saw fit. He seemed to save the worlds that would help a resistance the most, and destroy the worlds that would help the least, and all of them worlds that Frieza couldn't really afford to lose; any minor planet was left more or less untouched."

Nodding, Kellre added, "Even so, fourteen worlds won't be enough to sustain every remaining Saiyan, even if we packed them in."

Nodding himself, Avery punched a few more things into the console, highlighting several more planets, "No, they won't, and I would advise you against trying. I recommend sending at least half to the outlying planets; spread the survivors as thin as you can manage without putting them at risk by the clumps being too small. And above all, they _must_ keep a low profile; if Frieza plans to wipe them all out, make the bastard look for them, don't give him targets."

Truniz grinned, "I like the way you think."

Frost looked at Avery, a mild look of shock and awe on his face, "Where did this come from?"

Avery just shrugged, "I was one of the head strategists on Tori-Sei before Cold came hunting our technology."

"You never told me that!"

"You never asked."

"How would we get these worlds to co-operate?" Kellre interjected.

Frost just grinned, "Tell the Saiyans to say 'The Phoenix' sent them."

o-o-o

Viola was right where Kat had assumed she would be, back in the room she shared with Flute; she would really have to thank her sister for teaching her to sense people's energy, it was a very useful ability. Knocking on the door, she waited patiently. And waited. After a few minutes the door opened, Flute standing on the other side.

"What do you want?" Despite how gruff his voice sounded, there was an undertone of curiosity; after all, this _was_ the first time Kat had _ever_ come to their room.

"I wanted to speak to Viola. Alone." Kat replied, trying to sound as confident as she could under that piercing stare of his.

He raised an eyebrow at her, "I assume your being here means the others are on board?" She nodded. "Which means we'll be leaving soon?" Another nod. "Then I'd better get to the bridge. The sooner we get there the better." With that he strode past her, leaving the door open for her entry.

Kat walked in a tad timidly, seeing Viola seated cross-legged on, what she assumed to be, her bed. When the green-skinned woman opened her eyes and smiled reassuringly, Kat closed the door behind her, taking a seat on the opposite bed, which she assumed was Flute's.

Viola began, "So, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

Kat took a deep breath, "Well, last time I saw you fight, I remember seeing you turning into lightning." Viola nodded, confirming this fact, so Kat continued, "It looked like it was a very useful ability, and, well, I was wondering..."

Smiling cryptically, Viola supplied, "You were wondering if I'd teach you how to do it?"

Kat nodded quickly, explaining before she lost her nerve, "It's just that, I know I'm weaker than everyone else. From what I've seen in my travels Neko-Jin are far from a strong race, physically; I've tried to compensate for that through my techniques. And this war is just as much mine as anybodies, so..."

"What war?" Viola interrupted.

Kat looked confused, "You don't know?" Her face lit up in realisation, "Oh that's right, you and Flute left before the other's played back the message pod." At Viola's mildly confused look, she explained, "Frieza destroyed the Saiyan's home planet; the Cold Empire is now at war with the Resistance, and the survivors of the Saiyan race."

A grim expression on her face, Viola closed her eyes, replaying the information to Flute telepathically; he, it seemed, was no more pleased than her about this new turn of events. Opening her eyes again, and seeing Kat looking at her expectantly, she said, "Before I agree to anything, you should understand that this technique may not work for you at all, and if it does, it will most likely work differently for you than it does for me."

Kat nodded firmly, "I'm willing to try and learn if you're willing to try and teach."

"If I'm going to teach you, you must do exactly what I say, exactly how I say it. Understand?" Kat nodded firmly again, and Viola smiled cryptically once more. "Alright then, I accept, and we begin now. Get yourself comfortable; chances are, we'll be here a long time."

Kat crossed her legs, assuming much the same position Viola herself was in, "I'm ready."

Viola nodded, raising her hands in front of herself, palms facing each other, "First, I want you to bring your energy out, like so." Saying this, she formed a ball of ki between her hands, completely harmless ki, but ki nonetheless. Kat looked like she wanted to ask a question, but, having agreed to do whatever Viola said, didn't voice it. Nevertheless, Viola answered the silent question, "I know this is the most basic of novice exercises, but it's important if you wish to learn what I have to teach."

Kat nodded, wasting no time in doing what her 'instructor' told her to do, and holding the black ball of ki until she was told to release it. With another cryptic smile, Viola continued her instructions, "Now, I want you to repeat that, but this time, instead of guiding the ki through your hands to focus into a ball between them, you must focus it through your entire body. With this technique, you don't just wield ki; you become it. This technique is a mastery of ki control. In truth, you're lucky you're comparatively weaker than others." At Kat's confused look, she added, "Bringing your energy to the surface, becoming your energy, for the first time, won't take you as long as it would someone like Kaen, because you plain and simply don't have as much to bring out."

Kat nodded as if she understood; in truth, she only barely got what the older woman was talking about, but Viola didn't _need_ to teach her, so she was willing to go on a little faith. Closing her eyes, she set about doing as instructed, not noticing the final cryptic smile on the female Namek's face. Viola closed her eyes again, returning to her own meditation, but keeping her mind's eye focused on her 'pupil'. 'It's begun,' she thought to herself, 'now, the question is: will she see it through to completion, and if so, just what will the final result be?'

o-o-o

Elsewhere, in the section of the hangar bay Kaen had more-or-less turned into his work station, Pi was nearly dying of curiosity; what could he possibly be working on that he needed her help for? Eventually, the need for answers became too great to take silently, "Alright Kaen, what was it you needed my help with?"

He smiled at her a bit, still in his golden form, saying nothing right away, just activating his portable computer; obviously it was built of sturdy stuff to withstand his increased strength. Before she could ask again though, he cleared his throat, replying, "Ok, hear me out fully before you comment, alright?" Feeling the seriousness through the bond, she nodded; for him to put _this_ much effort into his answers, it must be something _big_. Returning his attention to his computer for a minute, and muttering, "Now, where to begin..." to himself, he tried to figure out exactly how to explain his intentions.

After a minute he nodded, having worked out what he wanted to say, and looked back at his mate, "Alright. In my travels, I've heard all sorts of legends, seen things other people wouldn't believe, and, for reasons I can't explain, even to myself, one of these appealed to me greatly. It was stories I heard about weapons empowered with the spirit of warriors, either living or fallen, granting the user new strength. I've been trying to replicate these ideas, trying to find out a way to change them from theory to reality." He paused, smiling at her, "And just recently, I believe I've succeeded."

At her confused look, he summed up, "For lack of a better description, with your help, I plan on making an enchanted weapon."

"Let me get this straight," she said, starting to get a little annoyed as she pieced things together, "You want _my_ help to create something that will make _you_ stronger?"

He snorted, "Of course not. I want your help to make a _pair_ of weapons, one for each of us, that will make _us_ stronger." Smiling, he added, "You should know I'd never expect you to do anything without getting something in return, and you should also know that I'd never expect you to let me get stronger than you; not anymore."

She was caught between smiling and frowning; frowning at the memory of his semi-recent breakdown, and smiling at the knowledge he was now accepting her fighting by his side. She was extremely happy her original conclusion was only half of the full picture, and was a bit upset with herself for doubting him; sure, he'd had his problems in the past with accepting her resolve, but she should have believed he was beyond them now. Eventually settling on a smile, she asked, "Alright then, what did you have in mind?"

"This." He spun the computer to face her. On the screen was an extremely detailed breakdown of what looked to be an impressively ornate sword, everything from exact dimensions, to details about materials, and specifications of what abilities he planned the finished sword to be able to perform. Soulsteel for the blade, and the base of the handle, to properly channel the ki. Orichalcum for the scabbard and hilt, to insulate the handle, and keep any residual ki from harming the user. Ruby and emerald for what he had dubbed the 'ki base'. She may not have had much of a mercantile knowledge, but she knew those materials were rare and expensive.

"Where did you get the materials for all this?" She was hard pressed to keep the wonder out of her voice.

"I got most of it when you were taking the girls on that shopping trip of yours," he replied with a grin. "The ore merchant owed me a favour, so he halved his prices; still cost me a fortune, but I've got enough to last me ten lifetimes. The ruby and emerald I've gotten through work; lots of places pay high debts using various gemstones instead of gold. I just collected them from that."

She looked up at him, an awed expression on her face, "When did you have time to plan all this out?"

He just shrugged, averting his eyes, "I... don't sleep as much as you do." It was obvious there was more to it than he was letting on, but she wasn't about to shame him by digging for problems; she knew he was far from being better, but they were both working on fixing that in their own silent way.

Instead she returned her attention to the design on the screen, muttering awedly, "Wow... It looks amazing..."

He smirked proudly, "Can you imagine it? A sword that's not just a weapon, but an extension of yourself. A sword that doubles the potency of your energy, just by being in contact with you." Smiling at her, his eyes showing the depths of his love for her for possibly only the second time in his life, he continued, "A sword that grants us each other's abilities; that represents what we can do when we work together. A sword that guarantees that, no matter what the future may bring, and no matter the distance between us, you and I will always be side by side, fighting together against all adversity, drawing strength from each other."

She smiled back in kind, showing his both how much she loved him, and how much she loved his idea; when he wanted to, he could say the most beautiful things. He probably didn't even realise it, but this idea was a direct representation of _everything_ she wanted: to have him with her always, and to always fight by his side. She knew that, with the lives Saiyans lead, there was a very good change one of them would die before the other at some point in the future. After all, she had _already_ died once, but he brought her back; she meant to ask him how he did that... Regardless, she knew that, with this one idea, even should the worst happen, they would never again be alone in spirit.

Still smiling, she flared into her golden ascended state, the form born of her love for him, and her anger at the thought of losing him, and asked, "When do we start?"

He smiled back, his own golden hair being blown around slightly by his swirling aura, "Right now."

o-o-o

The ship lurched a little as it left the planet's atmosphere, but Flute barely noticed as he strode purposefully towards the control room; he had to make sure the final dragon ball was recovered as soon as possible. His senses told him the other Saiyans were all in the control room, with two of them starting to leave, yet Kaen wasn't, and with the dark news of the destruction of Vegeta-Sei, he was worried about the state of his own mission; would they decide to go over his head, that finishing his mission was less important than the war against Frieza?

He was a little relieved to see Frost still at the controls, but was still a little worried that another Saiyan, Avarrdo if he remembered correctly, was close at hand, making low comments to the Aisu. He cleared his throat, drawing their attention to him.

Looking his way, Frost called out, "Ah, Flute, I was wondering when you'd get here. Don't worry, I've already entered in the location we were heading to before this little detour, and we're heading there as fast as this ship can manage." Noticing the look the Namek was sending Avarrdo's way he added, "Avarrdo here was giving me pointers on how to work this thing better; after all, he _did_ build it."

Bowing his head to the Saiyan slightly, Flute said, "I'm sorry to hear about your loss."

Smiling sadly, Avarrdo just replied, "As are we all." Barking a short laugh, he added, "Don't worry, I remember how important your mission was; you _did_ remind my son just earlier today. My world is gone, and I'm not going to cost you yours." He grinned a bit, "Unlike my son, I know when to wait, when to plan, and when to strike to hurt my enemies the most."

"And what is your plan?" Flute had to admit, he _was_ curious as to what they intended to do, and this Saiyan, who seemed so unlike his son, seemed like the sort of person he could relate to, and talk to as an equal.

"You want to know?" Avarrdo smirked, "Well, listen good..."

o-o-o

Over two hours passed, the only sound in the room from the slow breathing of two people deep in meditation. Viola had to admit, she didn't think the young Neko would have lasted this long; cats were, after all, known for being easily distracted, and yet this one hadn't moved a muscle. She was getting very close, having already managed to successfully draw out over 70 of her energy. And, while the catgirl herself didn't know it, she was already starting to become the dark shadow that was her ki; the only parts of her body that weren't currently black were her limbs and head. The last part was, however, the hard part, but after seeing the young girl's determination carry her this far, Viola had no doubt in her mind that, within the hour, she would succeed.

o-o-o

Another hour passed in peace and quiet, but April had to admit, she was getting a little worried. She hadn't seen hide nor hair of any of her children for almost three and a half hours now. She and Raene had begun cooking roughly half an hour ago now, after forcibly ejecting the chef robots from the room, knowing that, with the small meal they'd had on world, the others would be hungry again soon; even at the best of times, some Saiyans had no less than five meals a day, with snacks added on top of that, especially young Saiyans, who burned off energy incredibly fast.

Deciding that Raene could handle the rest, she set off in search of her wayward offspring. Taking a guess at what Kaen could have been doing to keep them occupied, she set off towards the training room; she remembered her mate telling her where it was in relation to the cafeteria/kitchen area. She wasn't surprised to find she was right, and that the twins _were_ in fact inside, but she _was_ surprised not to find Kaen and Pi with them.

Walking into the room, she immediately noticed the increased gravity pulling at her body; fortunately, she was strong enough to withstand it with little to no problem. She was a little surprised to find the twins in much the same boat, because she knew she was stronger than her youngest children; well, as of this morning she was anyway. Clapping her hands to get their attention, she announced, "Dinner will be ready soon. Come on."

Neither of the kids stopped their training, and she was, obviously, a little put out by this. Planting her hands on her hips, she said, "I said dinner will be ready, so shut this thing down and get moving."

This time they did respond, but it wasn't the answer she was expecting. First, Lime turned to her and said, "We're not done yet."

Before their shell-shocked mother could comment, Oran added, "We're not leaving 'til big brother comes and gets us."

April was too shocked to mutter more than a surprised, "Huh?" Sure, this wasn't the first time her children had ever disobeyed her - no child in history, anywhere, ever, had never disobeyed his or her parents - but this was the first time they had ever refused to come to a meal; they were, after all, Saiyans, and to a Saiyan there wasn't much that was more important than a meal. However, apparently to them, their brother was.

Without so much as slowing down, Oran continued the thought, "Kaen told us not to leave until he got back, and we're not gonna disappoint him again."

The fact he had used his big brother's actual name threw her for a loop; the twins _always_ just referred to Kaen as 'big brother'. Then the rest of the statement hit home, and April couldn't help but ask, "Again? What do you mean again?"

Stopping in his confusion, her youngest son turned to her, "What do you mean 'what do I mean'? He's disappointed in us mum." This said, he resumed training.

This surprised her, again. They honestly seemed to believe that Kaen was disappointed in them. She knelt down, saying soothingly, "Hey, of course he's proud of you. Why wouldn't he be?"

"You didn't see him mum..." Lime added, her bottom lip quivering, "You didn't see the look in his eyes. He said we were too weak to train with him, and he meant it. He said him and Pi train in over 400g's, and he meant it. He said if we left before he came back he would punish us, and he meant it."

Realising she was getting nowhere fast, she decided to try asking her mate for advice; he could always put a different spin on things, and shed light where she could find only darkness. _"Honey, can you help me get the twins out of the training room?"_

_"Why do you need them out?"_ Of course, he could never just answer her questions; he always had to know _why_ she was asking them.

_"Well, dinner's almost ready, but they say they refuse to leave until Kaen comes and gets them."_

_"When were you planning on telling me dinner was ready?"_ She sighed; that was so typical, always thinking of himself first, when there were other things to be dealt with.

_"When I got the twins to the table."_ Her irritation was obvious, but at least they were back on topic.

Avarrdo, however, didn't seem to care as much as she did, _"Hey, if they want to go hungry, let them go hungry. If they want to wait for Kaen, let them wait for him. And if they don't show up, that's just more food for me."_ She gave up; the man was impossible sometimes, but she wouldn't trade him for the world.

"But you're food will get cold..." It was a last ditch effort, she knew, but she was at a loss of how to deal with them, short of dragging them out by the hair; all of her children were painfully stubborn.

"Then let it get cold!" Oran snapped, again shocking her; neither of them had ever snapped at her before. "We'll go hungry for a week if that's what it takes! But we're not leaving until big brother gets here!"

"I guess this would be a good time to show up then." A new voice interjected, surprising everyone. Turning around, April saw her eldest son standing there in the doorway, arms crossed, and a smirk on his face. Without another word he walked over to the protocol droid, reading the data about the current session, his face an emotionless mask; not cold, just empty. Turning back to the twins, his face still emotionless, he regarded them with a piercing stare, as if looking into the very core of their souls, before he broke out into a grin. "Forty g's huh? That's a lot of improvement for under four hours work; still not good enough, but, better."

Matching grins broke out on the twins faces at this remark, but before they could say anything, Pi, who had just walked in, stopped by Kaen's side and added, "And, unless the computer's lying, you didn't stop for so much as one minute in all that time. Quite impressive you two, especially considering your age."

Without saying a word, they leapt at their big brother and sister, who caught them and chucked them up onto opposite shoulders: Oran on Kaen's right, Lime on Pi's left. Turning to their mother, Kaen said, "I believe I heard you mention something about food?"

She just shook her head and sighed, and, after shutting the room down, the five of them set off in search of sustenance.

o-o-o

The other Saiyans were already there when they arrived, and the food already being brought out, but, wisely, no one was eating; it was required by unspoken law that everyone had to be there before anyone was allowed to eat, and that law was very heavily enforced and punished. Setting the kids on the ground, Kaen and Pi regarded the adults with a nod, which they returned; everyone was curious as to everyone else's actions, but right now, there were more important matters. Namely, food, and the consumption of it.

The meal was carried out in silence; well, assuming you overlooked the sounds of cutlery clanging, people chewing and swallowing, and the other general sounds that accompany the eating of food. As soon as the meal was done, and permission to leave the table acquired, the twins sped off as fast as their legs would carry them; they may have deeply respected their big brother, and needed his praise, but they also wanted to live out the day, so being anywhere he wasn't sounded like a good idea around this point.

o-o-o

Racing through the halls, the twins were having trouble deciding what to do. If they went anywhere near the kitchen or training room Kaen was likely to find them, and that wouldn't be pretty. They forgot to ask their mum where their room was, so they couldn't go there either. And worse still, they didn't know where _anything_ was on this ship!

They skidded to a stop as someone turned the corner in front of them, almost hitting the poor person. Looking up, they saw it was a green-skinned woman; their tiny minds working overtime, they remembered she was at the camp, but couldn't think of her name. "Hiya pretty lady. What's your name?" Lime chirped.

With a small smile for the two kids, she replied, "Viola. What are you two doing here?"

"Avoiding our big brother. He can be _very_ scary sometimes." Oran offered.

With a slightly larger smile and a quick laugh, she said, "I see. Well then, you better run, because I think he's coming this way." This was, of course, a lie; Kaen hadn't moved from the cafeteria. However, seeing these two scared amused her for some reason, and she felt like adding fuel to the fire.

As one, they cried, "Oh no! Run!" and ran for their lives, turning several corners before diving into the first room they saw. Panting slightly to catch their breath, Lime noticed the sound of water running, and quickly indicated to her brother to be quiet as she tiptoed over to the source. There, under the water of her personal shower, was Kat; through fate alone, the twins had stumbled into her room, and were she not so tired from training with Viola, she would have noticed the two little hellions.

Quietly moving as far away from the showering Neko as possible, Lime whispered, "Our new sister Kat's in there."

A smirk quickly found it's way onto Oran's face as an idea came to him, a smirk his twin sister knew all to well; he had an idea for a prank. They had pulled lot's of pranks back home, but they knew from experience that, when it came to their family, pulling more than one on the same person was a bad idea. However, they hadn't pulled _any_ pranks on their new sister yet, and thus they were perfectly in their rights to do so; well, that's what they said. Reaching under his armour, and pulling out his bag of tricks, he whispered his plan into her ear, and soon she bore a matching smirk.

o-o-o

"So, what have you been doing for the past few hours?"

Turning to his father, Kaen replied, "Isn't it obvious?"

Avarrdo just gave him a flat stare, "If it was obvious I wouldn't have asked would I?"

He looked over his right shoulder for a moment, although they couldn't see what he was looking at, and he looked back, a confused look on his face as he pointed over his shoulder with his thumb, "You don't see that?" A glance at Pi showed she looked just as confused.

"See what?" April asked.

He turned to look at Pi, confusion and amusement evident on both their faces, before he turned back, saying, "I'll make it easy for you." and reaching over his shoulder, grabbing hold of whatever he had looked at and indicated earlier, and drawing it, surprising everyone by unsheathing a large sword.

"Where did that come from boy?" Truniz asked, a mild look on shock on his face.

"I've had it on since I picked the twins up at the training room." He replied with a shrug, "Are you telling me that none of you saw this? What about the one's Pi's got?" All eyes shot to Pi, and she had to suppress a shiver as the five of them seemed to rake over her with fine-tooth combs. Despite everything, no one could see a sword over her shoulders, although Kellre did notice something.

"She's got it over her left shoulder doesn't she?" He asked.

"Yeah I do. If you can't see it, how do you know?" She replied.

"I've noticed that my eyes seem to look around something there."

An impressed look on his face, Kaen commented, "Well, this is an unexpected development."

"What do you mean?" Avarrdo asked, "What are those swords? Why would you want a sword anyway? I never thought..."

He was interrupted as the blade of Kaen's sword burst into white flame all of it's own accord. A smirk on his face, Kaen said, "This is _far_ from an ordinary sword."

The look on their faces showed they fairly impressed, but before they could comment an ear-piercing shriek echoed down the halls of the Icebreaker. "Oh no... I know that voice..." Kaen groaned to himself, and as he realised that the twins weren't present, he knew exactly what happened, and set off in search of the twin terrors.

o-o-o

Said terrors were currently speeding down the halls, running for their lives. The thought 'perhaps this wasn't such a good idea...' raced through their heads; Kat could _easily_ be as scary as their big brother when she wanted to be. Nevertheless, the look on her face was _priceless_!

Skidding to a halt, they saw their big brother coming down the corridor towards them, and he didn't look happy. Thinking quickly, they sped down another corridor and started weaving in and out of the hallways in the hopes of losing everyone until they calmed down.

This hope was dashed when a dark shape started rising out of the floor a ways in front of them, looking remarkably like Kat. They spun around, sliding on the floor a moment before taking off again, this time taking the left instead of the right, but another black shape cut them off. Turning around, and seeing the original shape still there, they decided that perhaps letting Kaen catch them was going to be less painful, so they sped back the way they came, but a third black shape cut them off at the pass.

This one, however, spoke, raising it's hands and crying, "Feel my Spite brats!" A dark blast fired out from the shadow's hands, exploding soundlessly directly in front of the speeding children, and sapping them of their strength. Through sheer momentum alone they kept coming, ending up flying straight through the dark shape just as the other Saiyans rounded the corner.

"Kat, is that you?" Pi asked.

The dark shape turned around to face them, legs still in the floor, and chirped out, "Oh hey guys. Viola taught me how to do this; isn't it cool?" Saying this, she rose the rest of the way out of the ground, and the darkness began to fade back to her normal colour; well, all areas bar one. Once she was back to 'normal' it became quite clear what the twins had done; her hair was bright, fluoro pink.

The assembled Saiyans looked at each other, blinked, and burst out laughing. Kat, however, seemed less than impressed. Whistling sharply, two shadows came flying towards her along the walls, pulling themselves out soon after to reveal two Shadow Warriors, both of which moved to pick up the twins, one each. Quashing his mirth, Avarrdo called, "Hey, those are mine."

"I'll bring them back when I'm done." Kat replied, signalling the Warriors to follow her as she headed off to the training room. Kaen just burst out laughing again; he knew she wouldn't hurt them too bad, but by the time she was done, they'd never prank her again.

Turning to his old man, he asked, "So, what did you guys decide to do? What plans did you make?"

Avarrdo just smirked back, "If you weren't off making toys with your mate you'd have heard them the first time, but for you, I'll repeat them."

Thus were plans made, preparations carried out, and goals set. The Saiyan people would recover from their loss; they'd done it before, when the legendary Super Saiyan shattered the planet of Saiya, and they would do it again now that Vegeta-Sei had met the same fate. It would take more than an albino tyrant with egomania to destroy the mighty Saiyan race; they were born fighters, and they died fighters. They had seen more battles come and go than other races saw sunrises, and they would continue fighting until the universe collapsed in upon itself. This was just the latest chapter in the Saiyan book, but it was this chapter that could either lead to a dramatic climax, or a tragic ending. All that remained to be seen was which path the story would take.

End Chapter 21.5

To be continued...

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Author's Note:

This chapter, like the last 'half' chapter, took place in 'downtime.'


	25. The Summoning

--- The Phoenix Chronicles ---

Chapter 22 - The Summoning

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Flute stood patiently on the bridge as the Icebreaker entered one of the many star systems, bearing towards the second planet from the sun, one of the most likely to contain life. On the surface, he appeared his usual stoic self, but for those who knew where to look, like the ever-present Viola, he was obviously worried; this was it, this was the day he would recover the seventh, and final, dragon ball, and his quest would be at an end. Where it went from there, no one knew.

If the other people on the bridge noticed his tension - which was highly unlikely, given his emotionless mask - they made no mention. Kat and Avery sat diligently at their consoles, the former still suffering the effect of the twins' latest prank, and the latter chuckling quietly to himself every now and then. The 'commander' of this crew of misfits stood calmly, but pointedly avoided turning his head in the direction of the young former redhead; he didn't think he'd be able to hold in his laughter otherwise, and being murdered by an irate Neko-Jin was _not_ on his 'To Do' list.

Turning his head to face Flute - and not being able to fight the grin that came to his face as his gaze passed Kat - Frost commented, "We'll be there in another five minutes, so you'd better head to the docking bay and prep your ship for planet fall."

"What for?" A male voice called out from behind them. Turning around, they noticed Avarrdo, Kellre and Truniz looking up from their planning, the first of the three continuing his previous remark, "You could just use the teleporter."

Frost just raised an eyebrow in question, "There's a teleporter on this thing?"

Spinning around, Kat added, "Since when?"

The older man just laughed, "Since we had it installed during construction. You act like you don't know what this ship can do."

Frost just shot him a wry look, "That's because I forgot to pick up the manual when I stole this thing. I've been winging it thus far, with fair success, despite a few... incidents due to... accidentally activated buttons." Saying this, Frost pointedly looked away from Kat, which drew the attention of all three Saiyans onto her, grins on their faces. Kat just pouted silently.

Clearing his throat, Flute asked, "So where is this teleporter?"

Kellre just indicated offhandedly to the raised platform on the right side of the bridge, causing Kat to mutter to herself, "So it was under our noses the entire time..."

Frost just waved the issue away as he turned back around, remarking, "Well, it's not like it was essential at any point in the past..." Feeling the heated glares of three irate Saiyan males on his back - no doubt a testament to the fact they'd watched the security recording of the... incident that yielded Kaen his golden transformation - he coughed and amended, "...or overtly so." He quickly changed the subject, "So, who's headed down?"

Flute and Viola made their way over to the teleporter without a word. Avery just shrugged and turned away, his body language clearly saying 'It's not my fight'. Kat, while making no effort to move, _did_ make a useful comment: "We should tell Kaen and Pi about this, or they're going to be wondering what's going on."

"Tell us about what?" A female voice asked from behind.

Spinning around, a hand held to her heart, Kat exclaimed, "Don't do that!"

Pi just smiled semi-apologetically, silently thinking to herself on how to help Kat work on her ki sense, while replying, "Sorry. What did you need to tell us?"

Putting the incident behind her, Kat just remarked, "Oh, nothing much. Just that we found out this thing has a ship to surface teleporter. You know, minor detail..."

Pi grinned, both at how much Kat was hamming it up, and at the fact they had a teleporter. "Is that so?" Turning to the elder Saiyans, and seeing mirroring grins on their faces, she added, "Well isn't that convenient." Using her bond, she relayed the information to Kaen, and received his reply in the form of a mental eye roll and a dry _"Why does that not surprise me."_

"So where's Kaen?" Kat asked curiously.

Pi just smiled, "He's running the kids through their drills, and giving them their work for the day. I've already told him what's going on, so he'll be along shortly."

"You'll have to teach me how you do that one of these days..." the girl muttered, thinking out loud mostly to herself.

The sound of three males coughing in shock rang out through the bridge, and Pi felt herself heat up a bit at the hidden implications of that statement, that Kat herself probably didn't realise. "Well, a bond isn't something that can be taught..." she began slowly, "But, I suppose we could see if you can learn telepathy and work on that..."

Turning towards the Nameks, and trying to put Kat's comment behind her, she commented, "Almost done now. Bet you'll be relieved after that, huh Flute?" The green-skinned man just inclined his head ten degrees, to signal agreement. Grinning again, she asked, "Don't 'spose you'll lighten up after this is over?" His lips twitched into the barest hint of a smile, which might as well have been a full-blown grin, as he shook his head five degrees to either side; a no.

Barely a minute had passed when Kaen showed up, in full 'Phoenix gear' - that is, black bodysuit, red armour, and black trench coat - just with the added change of the sword slung over his shoulder under the coat. Walking in, a grin on his face, he commented, "Isn't that typical? We find out a very useful feature, just before it's importance wanes slightly."

Frost just shrugged, "Eh, it happens. Not like it's anyone's fault. Don't 'spose anyone knows how to actually work it?"

Kaen looked over to his father for the answer, but it was Kellre who stood up and walked towards the control consoles, asking, "Just the four of you?" Stepping up onto the platform, and seeing Kat make no move to follow, Kaen just shrugged and nodded, so Kellre moved over to Avery's console, punching a few co-ordinates before activating the system. With an energised hum, the group of four vanished in a pale blue light, being beamed down to the planet.

As he walked back to the planning, Kellre remarked to Frost, "Oh, there was something I've been meaning to tell you." When the Aisu raised his head in acknowledgement, he continued, "When you stole this ship, you're lucky you made that announcement." Reaching under his armour, he produced a small remote control, adding, "We were ready to self-destruct the ship should it fall into the wrong hands."

"Well, we would have been if these two ladies had've been able to decide which method to use to do it," Truniz interjected.

"I still say explosion was the best method," Avarrdo added, without looking away from their work, "Take out as much of Frieza's empire as possible."

"You can _so_ tell he's Kaen's father..." Avery commented quietly in Frost's ear, not aware that the three Saiyans could hear him; they made no reaction however.

"And I still say that implosion was better," Kellre countered, walking back to the group, "To make sure nothing remained behind." Truniz shrugged at Frost, seeming to say 'See what I mean?'

"This thing has a self-destruct function?" Frost asked incredulously. Before anyone could say anything, he amended, "Never mind, of course it does. How many are there in total?"

"Three methods," Avarrdo commented, still without looking up, "Explosion, implosion, and one we called the Hyperspace Allocatur/Locator Overload, or HALO, to be used in only extreme circumstances. The latter can't be remote detonated, it can only be activated by the onboard crew, and even then only if you know the twenty-six digit pass code."

"I know I'm going to regret asking, but why all the security on that mode, if the other two can be remotely accessed?" Avery asked.

The three men looked up together, dark grins on their faces as Kellre replied, "Because the HALO drive is capable of wiping out _everything_ in a radius in excess of one hundred light years. Not even atoms remain..."

o-o-o

As the blue light faded, the team of four found themselves on the planet's surface; from the initial appearance of their surroundings, the planet was mostly plains, but with the occasional forest, as the one in the distance attested to. Nodding appreciatively, Kaen commented, "Wow, that was pretty cool."

His voice all business, Flute spoke up, "We need to make sure there's nothing hostile here. When we summon the Dragon, it will attract some attention?"

An eyebrow raised, Kaen thought to himself, the thought slipping through the bond _"'Summon the Dragon'? I wonder if that's a metaphor for something... Some tells me he hasn't told the full story."_

_"We know more than he's told anyone else,"_ Pi's voice rang out in his mind, the girl herself with a smile on her face, _"That's got to count for something right?"_

With a short nod, both to Pi and Flute, he stretched out his senses as they started walking towards the forest, trying to pick up any hostile targets, but instead just picked up that the planet itself seemed alive. "Damnit..." he cursed to himself, "I hate planets like this. I really need to find a way to fine-tune this 'ki sense' thing..." After a few minutes, he picked up a fairly amassed power signature to the east, his head snapping in that direction, the others following suit.

"It may be nothing," Flute commented, "But we'd best check it out to make sure."

"Agreed." With that, Kaen took to the sky, the excess ki from his launch charring the grass around where he'd stood.

Pi just giggled, "So much for keeping a low profile." Not wasting time, she took off after her mate.

Viola grunted sourly, "Reckless..." Flute paused a moment to share an agreeing glance before the pair took off after the Saiyan couple.

o-o-o

Hovering above the area the power source originated from, Kaen could see a collection of drop pods, the tell-tale signs of a Cold Empire scouting party, albeit an unusually large one. A grin came to his face as a few members of the party began to notice him; he flared his ki to draw their attention. Before long, Pi arrived at his side, Flute and Viola behind the both of them.

About a dozen of the soldiers took to the air, one of them wearing armour marked with the symbols of a squad commander, who barked, "You aren't the local species here; who are you and what is your business here?"

Still grinning, Kaen drew his sword, making sure to regulate his power level to appear weaker than them as he replied, "My business is my own; care to make something of it?"

The commander started laughing, his posse doing the same, and when Pi also drew her sword he stopped laughing for just long enough to call out, "look at that boys, these guys seem serious about fighting us."

Kaen just levelled his sword at the floating enemy, his grin taking on a darker tone as in intoned one word; "Fire." A wide gout of flame blasted along the length of the sword, spreading out as it leapt from the tip, but the shock of the attack managed to overrule the intensity of the flame, as all of them dived out of the way.

Righting himself in midair, the leader barked order, "All in attack!" No sooner had he said then when Pi sped past, a near green blur as she lashed out with her sword, cutting five of the airborne soldiers clean in half. Holding his sword behind him, Kaen focused as flame shot out of the handle of his sword, forming itself into a flat shape, before solidifying and becoming an identical copy of the blade on the other end. Butterfly sword prepared, Kaen burst forward, lashing out with his weapon, but his attacks were sluggish, and his body slow to react; he did, however, manage to take down two more, including the commander, but there were still twenty-seven left, including the remaining five airborne.

Raising an arm above her head, first two fingers extended, Viola called out "White Lightning!" Out of nowhere, her hand was struck by a bolt of lightning, which travelled down her arm and began to swirl around her torso. Flinging that same arm forward, the lightning travelled back down her arm, and fired from her fingers in a double helix, spearing through the remaining five in the air (who had stupidly been floating in single file from where she was), their charred corpses falling to the ground with a hole burnt clear through them.

Seeing how quickly the first group was dispatched, the remaining twenty-two took to the air at once, hoping to overwhelm their opponents, but Flute was having none of that. Drawing his hand back, he shouted "Cluster Bomb!" before throwing a large ball of ki forwards, wherein it 'exploded' into four smaller balls, each of which then exploded amongst the ranks, incinerating twelve of them.

The blades of Kaen's weapon began glowing orange as he sped towards the enemy, intent of cleaving through armour and flesh, but the scouts were too scattered, and Kaen's body too exhausted, for him to make contact with anything solid or fleshy. Flute scowled slightly, as did Pi, but made no comment on it; instead, the Namek shouted, "Let's finish this: Scatter Shot!"

Flinging ki balls at random, the scouts actually took a moment to observe them, as he hit nothing, and they just floated there. All too late they realised what had happened as Flute crossed his arms, then flung them out again and shouted out, "Hellzone Detonation!" The exploding ki balls vaporised eight of the remaining ten, and before those last two could recover, Viola finished them off using another of her new techniques: crossing her palms in front of her, and forming a ki ball on her palm, the fired a surge of static ki; her Bolt Cannon.

Lowering his weapon, the flame tail blade dying down, Kaen grinned over at Flute, his entire body showing signs of exhaustion as he commented, "Nice move there green man."

Flute inclined his head in acknowledgement, before commenting himself, "Those weapons of yours seem quite effective..." He paused, looking in Pi's direction, before finishing the thought with, "...in the right hands." A brief smirk flashed across his face, gone almost too quickly for the eye to spot it - almost - and Pi started giggling. Kaen opened his mouth to retort, but was swept up into a massive yawn before her could, so he decided to just let the little jib slide and sheathed his sword; as such, he didn't notice the concerned look Pi sent his way.

Stretching his joints, Kaen asked, "So, where to now?"

Flute thumbed back in the direction they'd come from, saying, "Over there." Kaen just nodded his head, silently telling him to lead on. Nodding in return, the four took off, Flute setting the pace; it wasn't exactly rushed, because he was too self-controlled to do that, but it wasn't a sedate pace either. The flight wound up being longer than expected, the teleporter putting them a little off course, but it did give the Saiyan couple a chance to speak as they brought up the rear.

**"Have you decided what to wish for?"**

Kaen sighed, closing his mouth before he yawned again before replying, **"I have no idea... All I've got is bringing back Vegeta-Sei, but I'm not sure these things could even do that, or whether doing so would just prompt Frieza to destroy it again."**

Putting a hand to her chin thoughtfully, Pi replied, **"Well, bringing back Vegeta-Sei would, logically, bring back everyone on it, and we'd be able to fight Frieza a lot easier with that many extra Saiyans. Plus, imagine what would happen if a Saiyan was brought back from not just the brink of death, but death itself!"**

She noticed a brief flash of... something, in his eyes when she said that, but he went on before she could comment, **"I'd rather not imagine, thank you, but you do make a good point. Still, there's only so much we can do without knowing just what these dragon balls are capable of. I mean, we know they grant wishes, but what sort of wishes, and how powerful?"**

Pi grinned playfully, **"Well, there's only one way we're gonna find out isn't there? Go ask Flute; you may not be used to it, but sometimes asking for help really has its advantages."** She shrugged her left shoulder, pointedly indicating the sword slung over it.

He sighed again, **"Fine, I'll go ask him."** He sped forward, slightly perturbed at how much energy it took him to do so, but putting it out of his mind as he matched the pace of his green-skinned employer and called out, "Yo. I got a question."

Without turning to face him, Flute began to descend into the forest below, but he did prompt Kaen to ask his question with a simple, "Yes?"

"Well, I was wondering what sort of 'wishes' these balls can grant, and what limitations they have."

Flute nodded, as if he'd already expected the question, before replying, "There are very few limitations. The most obvious is that you only get three wishes every year, the second that you can't use them to kill someone, and the third that you can only bring someone back to life with them once, and even then only if they have not died of natural causes. Other than that, they can do almost anything."

Kaen's eyes lit up, "So you're saying that, theoretically, they could bring back an entire planet, and the people that had resided on it, as long as they hadn't been 'wished back' already?"

"There is a catch," Flute added, ignoring Kaen's muttering of 'There's always a catch', "You can only bring someone back to life if they died, at most, a year ago, and they work on a Namekian year, which is considerably shorter than a standard year, and thus significantly shorter than a Saiyan year."

"Damn," he muttered, before asking, "So exactly how long _is_ a Namekian year?"

"One hundred and thirty-three days, give or take. Roughly one third of a standard year."

"Wow, you guys age fast. How old does that make you then?"

Reaching into the undergrowth, Flute pulled out the final dragon ball, which, ironically, bore a single star, before saying, "Irrelevant. Passage of time on Namek-Sei is counted by movement of the three suns, and as such, it is never night."

Kaen quirked an eyebrow, "Then how do you guys... Ah, right, you _don't_ sleep, thus, there's no need for night."

Flute nodded slightly, before saying, "Come. It is best we do this in an open area."

o-o-o

The group assembled in a clearing nearby, where Flute began laying down the dragon balls in a circle, almost ritually, placing one through six in a circle, and seven in the centre. The balls began to pulse with golden light in unison as Flute set them down, and took a few steps back. Kaen and Pi stood silently side-by-side, and Viola off to the side slightly, as Flute drew a breath, before calling out, **'I summon forth the eternal dragon, Shenlong, grant my three wishes!'**

For the briefest of seconds, nothing happened, and Kaen was about to ask if they were broken when he noticed the sky getting dark; not clouding over, not sun setting, but the sky simply becoming black. Suddenly, from the clear, albeit black, sky, a bolt of lightning arced down, striking the centre ball. The lightning seemed to dance between the balls for a moment before a beam of golden light began arcing upwards from them. As it extended into the sky, it began twisting and turning, knotting itself into an impossible weave. Within moments, the beam of light began to solidify, and the light started fading to reveal green.

When the light was gone, in it's place stood - or rather hovered - a long serpent-like creature, with four clawed legs, and green scales. Its head was topped with what looked like a golden mane, and his blood-red eyes bore down on them. In a deep booming voice, it announced, "You who have collected the seven sacred dragon balls have awoken me. I will grant you any three wished you may ask, before returning to my slumber."

Kaen just stood there, a stunned look on his face, before he managed to stop gaping and say, "Wow... That's... different. So, when you said 'summon the dragon', you meant that quite literally..." Pi was quite awed - not scared, because as a warrior she didn't get scared - just awed; she _did_ take hold of Kaen's arm though. Viola was just as awed; she'd read about it, but seeing the eternal dragon was a whole different thing. Strange, she remembered the dragon's name as Porunga...

Turning to look at them, Flute spoke, "I sought to collect the dragon balls to make a single wish only. Kaen, as payment for your assistance, one of the wishes is yours to make. However, as to the third, I am open to suggestions."

On the outside Kaen nodded, but inside he commented to himself, again slipping the thought to Pi, _"Great, I have enough trouble coming up with _one_ wish, and he wants suggestions for _another_."_

Amusement trickling through the bond, Pi replied, _"I don't think he means for you to make two wishes, but he might let you if you ask nice enough."_

He just shrugged, _"What could I possibly want? I have you don't I?"_ Kaen himself was a little surprised a how honest he felt that statement was, but seeing Pi beam up at him was worth it. Unbidden, his rebel tail wrapped around her waist, and, smiling, she willed hers to do the same; she found it highly amusing that, no matter how well he could hide his emotions, his tail always spoke the truth.

Any other thought trains were derailed as Shenlong's voice boomed, "Make your first wish!"

Turning to face the dragon, Flute nodded, taking a deep breath, before shouting up to it, **'I wish for the storms that are destroying Namek-Sei to cease!'**

The dragon's head bowed a fraction, it's eyes glowing a bright red as it seemed almost to be humming to itself, before it returned to normal and announced, "Your wish has been granted!"

Kaen blinked, "That was surprisingly easy. Talk about a Deus Ex Machina..."

Pi blinked as well, turning to him and asking, "A what?" He just shook his head; he'd explain later.

Turning to his Saiyan comrade, Flute called out, "The eternal dragon is powerful in ways many cannot imagine. What will your wish be?"

Taking a deep breath to steady his nerves, his tail tightening it's grip on his mate's waist, he replied, "I want to restore Vegeta-Sei, and all the people on it." Flute nodded, as if he'd expected this to be his wish, before Kaen asked, "So how's this work exactly? I noticed you weren't speaking Basic, so I assume that was your native tongue." It was odd, he thought, that the dragon spoke Basic, but listened in Namek, but he'd seen odder.

Nodding again to acknowledge his musings, Flute asked, "Is that your wish?" Kaen just nodded again, so Flute turned back to Shenlong and cried, **'I wish for the planet Vegeta-Sei and its people to be restored!'**

The dragon's eyes glowed red again, but when the red light died, it's voice announced, "You wish can not be granted!"

"What?" Kaen shouted, "Why not?"

Flute translated the question for him, and the booming voice of Shenlong replied, "It is beyond my power. Too much time has passed since the planet's destruction for it to be restored."

His left hand clenching, Kaen muttered, "Damn... There must've been a delay in the information relay..." Pi bowed her head slightly in mourning, and her grip on Kaen's right arm increased, but she said nothing."

Turning to his sometimes-friend, Flute said remorsefully, "I am sorry..."

Kaen just shook his concern off, replying, "Don't be, it was a long shot anyway. There's nothing you could have done; no matter how quickly we assembled them, I don't think it would have made a difference." Smiling sadly, he added, "Besides, I know my family is safe, and that's all that's really important to me. The Saiyan race will recover, with time, just as it has done before." With a quick shake of his head, he said, "The only problem now is, what to do with them." He inclined his head towards the dragon balls.

Flute nodded, offering up a few suggestions, "You could wish for anyone who is hunting you to seek you no longer, as it will increase your safety. Perhaps something to correct any old injuries, either physical or mental, which conventional healing cannot help. I would suggest a power boost, but I know that goes against your Saiyan nature. These are, however, merely suggestions."

Kaen nodded in thanks, but shot them down by saying, "The only person who was chasing me was killed by hand a scant few weeks ago, all injuries I suffered either healed themselves away, or happened over a year ago, like the gaps in my memory, and, you're right, no Saiyan would accept power they didn't work for."

"The one year limitation applies to death only. As for mental problems, I'm sure someone could name a few." The insult was plain, but lacking in heat.

"Cute. Real cute," Kaen drawled, before turning to his mate, "What do you think? This affects you as much as it does me?"

The booming voice of Shenlong interjected, "I grow impatient!" but no one paid it any heed.

Pausing a moment in thought, Pi asked him, _"Kaen, how much sleep do you get of a night time?"_

He sighed; he'd never been good lying to her. _"Three hours. If I'm lucky. But it's not-"_

_"Don't say it's not a big deal Kaen,"_ she interrupted angrily, _"It _is_ a problem. I wasn't going to say anything, but I noticed today it's affecting your ability to fight, which makes it a problem. More importantly, as your mate, student, and training partner, it makes it _my_ problem. Now, how long has it been since you've had a proper good night's rest?"_

He sighed again. _"Three weeks, give or take."_ He paused, before amending, _"Three Saiyan weeks."_

She shook her head, upset he'd kept this from her for that long, before her voice took on a teasing tone and suggested, _"Why don't you ask the big monster to help the nightmares go away?"_

He glared at her, but it was lacking the heat he wanted; he could never really be angry with her, especially when she was latched onto his arm. Turning to Flute, he stutteringly tried to phrase his wish, "Well, ever since that... incident, a while back, I've been having... problems... getting to sleep, and it's gotten worse since that _other_ incident with Recoome, so..." The look he gave the Namek said more than his words ever could; the exhaustion was obvious.

Nodding but once, Flute turned back to Shenlong, announcing the second wish, **'I wish for the Saiyan Kapskaen to be free from the troubles locked within and plaguing his mind, so that he may rest at ease from now until the end of his days.'**

The dragon's eyes glowed red for the second time, and this time, its voice boomed, "Your wish has been granted." A rush of thought and emotions raced through Kaen's mind, as, without meaning to, the wish both repaired his memory, and cleaned by his various mental issues, and many of these flashes were mirrored across the bond, worrying Pi for a moment. Eventually, however, a feeling of relief, and calmness, settled over him, as if a great weight had been removed from his shoulders. Gasping slightly from the feeling, Kaen commented dazedly, "Wow... That was... odd." Pi just smiled up at him.

Exhaling a little, Flute muttered, "And now, the final wish." Turning to Viola, he paused a moment, hesitating with something very akin to embarrassment, before asking, "Is there anything you would like?"

Visibly caught off guard, Viola stuttered out, "Um... Well, seeing as how I was trying to... And I've already... I don't think..." Shaking her head to clear away erroneous thoughts, it was obvious to him what she meant, even if the two Saiyans were still kept in the dark; they, however, were too involved with one another to notice. Calmer now, she added, "I don't think there is anything the dragon can do at this point, but it might be handy to have around in the future, just in case..."

He nodded, "I can see this requires more thought. I could use the last wish to prevent the dragon balls scattering across the galaxy again when the wishes are made. As... Entertaining, as this journey has been, I do not wish to be forced to make a repeat performance every time the dragon is needed."

Smiling a bit, Viola replied, "That's not a bad idea."

Shenlong's loud voice interjected again, "What is your final wish? Do not keep me waiting."

Pulled from their in-depth study of each other's eyes, Kaen muttered quietly, "Geez, don't get your scales in a twist..."

Pi started giggling, and even Flute grinned a bit as he commented, "Quite impatient, this creation of mine."

Kaen just grinned back, "I've noticed, yes."

Turning to Shenlong one more time, Flute cried out, **'I wish that the dragon balls no longer scatter when the wishes are done.'**

For the final time, the dragon's eyes glowed red, and it announced, "You wish has been granted. Now I will return to my slumber." Saying that, the seven dragon balls lifted off the ground as, with a whine of energy, the dragon returned to a column of light, which soon vanished entirely in a blinding flash, shortly followed by seven thumps as the balls returned to terra firma, although now, instead of orange crystal-like balls, they were nothing but plain, lifeless grey stones.

Kaen turned to Flute, one eyebrow raised in question, which the man answered as he collected the seven balls. "After one year, the dragon balls will revert to as they were, but until that time, they will be nothing but lifeless stones as their energy returns." Kaen nodded as if he understood, and no sooner had Flute picked up the seventh ball when they were enveloped in blue light, and found themselves beamed back aboard the Icebreaker.

Frost was the first one to speak, "What happened down there? We had a sensor shut-down for ages, and they've only just come back online, so we brought you back just in case it happened again."

Kaen just shrugged, replying almost cheerily, "Nothing too drastic. However, I can inform you that my previous contract has just expired, so I'm now a free agent again." Turning to the older Saiyans, he noticed massive grins on their faces, and following their eyes, realised that Pi still had her tail around him, and his was around her. "Oh, right," he commented softly - this was such a common occurrence now he'd forgotten they'd never done it before - before he turned back to them and said, "Please, like you've never done this." Turning to Truniz, he added, "And you're just jealous I've got somebody."

Pi giggled a bit, giving him a kiss on the cheek, before grabbing Viola's hand, and Kat's and dragging them away, talking excitedly about something as she went to find her mother, and Kaen's. From the little they could understand, it seemed they were planning a shopping trip in celebration of a mission completed. Every male in earshot immediately went back to their work, making a huge show of being busy, bar two: Avery was whimpering quietly, and trying to hide under his console, and Kaen was slowly going ghost-pale, realising he had no excuse this time.

Flute made no attempt to hide the smirk on his face as he calmly walked off the bridge, but it almost slipped as he was nearly barrelled into by two pint-size tornadoes, both of them leaping out of the way at the last minute with a "Sorry mister" and continuing on. Flute regarded both of their retreating forms with a blank glare, but said nothing as he moved on.

Skidding to a halt in front of Kaen, the twins declared loudly, "Big brother big brother! We broke 50g's today!"

Smiling down to them, he roughed up their hair a bit before adding, "Oh did you now? That's good to hear. At the rate you're going, Pi and I are going to have to start taking our spars with you seriously soon." Despite the insulting undertones, the comment seemed to have the desired effect, as massive grins split their chibi faces. Turning to the adults, he asked, "So, how's the plan going?"

Of the three, it was Avarrdo who replied, "We sent out the coded messages today, and we're monitoring the Cold Empire frequencies to co-ordinate movements and retrieval points, to avoid anything too tough to handle right now."

With a nod, Kaen added, "Well, you can mark another black spot. We just took out another scouting party. They must be taking us seriously now, it was almost twice the normal size."

As they nodded in acknowledgement, Truniz's eyes fell on the clock nearby. "Hm," he mused, "Almost lunch time." As if on cue, the twins stomachs started rumbling, sounding quite loud as it echoed in the room.

Their father chuckled, "Right on time."

Joining the laughter as the kids rubbed the backs of their heads sheepishly, Kaen added, "They always were good alarms weren't they?"

"Best alarm clock I ever made." Was his father's smart-ass reply.

"Well," Kellre supplied, "We don't want to keep everyone waiting. They might start without us."

Grabbing the kids as they moved to race out of the room at this empty threat, Kaen flung them up onto his shoulders, walking out with the other three and commented, "We wouldn't want that now would we?"

End Chapter 22

To be continued...


	26. The Shopping Torture Continues

--- The Phoenix Chronicles ---

Chapter 23 - The Shopping Torture Continues

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He smiled to himself as he gently ran his hand through his sleeping mate's hair. It was nearing dawn, roughly two days after he had witnessed a green dragon emerging from a collection of seven orange balls, and today, they would be reaching the planet that had become their destination two days ago; today, he would be subjected to the whims of five shopping-mad females. It was understandable, therefore, that he was in no rush to start the day, hence why he just lay there waiting for his mate to wake on her own; well, that, and he just enjoyed holding her like this.

For the first time in... forever, Kaen had actually chosen to remain in bed after waking, something the still sleeping Pi was still unused to, evident by the way she wriggled around in her sleep, before nestling her head on his chest, her tail unconsciously finding it's way wrapped around his leg, and a smile finding it's way onto her face. After a few more minutes, however, she finally awoke, shifting slightly so that her half-open eyes could meet his as she greeted, "G'morning."

Leaning up to give her a quick kiss, he replied, "Morning yourself."

Smiling at him tiredly, she commented, "I could get used to waking up like this."

He smiled back, "I think you'll have to."

Her smile turning into a playful grin, she asked, "So why are you up so early? You looking forward to today, huh? Can't wait to start?"

He grinned back, albeit with a wry twist as he replied, "Not how _I_ would have phrased it, no." She could tell from the look in his eyes alone, never mind the feelings she got through the bond, that he really didn't want to play pack mule today, but he would do it, for her, because it made her happy. Laughing quietly, she gave him a deep kiss, as a pre-emptive 'Thank you' for what was going to happen today. With his mouth busy, he added mentally, _"I can tell _you're_ excited though. Even when you were still asleep I could feel it."_

Still not breaking contact, she replied, _"Well, I can't help it. It's been a while since I had a chance to go with my mother, let alone yours as well."_

Kaen shuddered slightly as he remembered the last time those three had gotten together in a retail environment, commenting as they broke contact, _"That was _not_ pleasant... I'll be surprised if I live through the day..."_

She just shook her head at him and hit him playfully as she started to get up, _"It's not _that_ bad."_

He snorted, replying wryly, _"Easy for you to say, you've never been on this side of the equation before."_

_"Maybe if you _tried_ to enjoy it you wouldn't think it was so bad."_ She replied matter-of-factly as she got dressed.

_"Well..."_ He 'thought' to himself as he cast an eye over her half-dressed form, _"There _is_ an upside I know of."_

Turning towards him, and spotting the cheeky grin on his face, she sighed over-dramatically as he too climbed out of bed, saying, "What am I going to do with you?" She was a little surprised at how quickly the two of them had adapted to being able to speak telepathically, and even more surprised at how much she enjoyed speaking that way; probably because it was something that only they shared. (Obviously, other Saiyan couples were bonded, but each bond was unique to that couple.)

Wrapping his arms around her from behind, he whispered into her ear, "I guess you should have thought of that before shouldn't you?"

Turning towards him, and nipping playfully at his nose, she replied, "I never said it was a bad thing." Breaking free of his grip, she finished getting dressed, pinning her hair back as she left, and calling out, "I'll be helping get breakfast ready. Don't be late now." She knew it would never happen, as his derisive snort proved, but it was just one of those things you said.

o-o-o

Kaen arrived in the refectory a few minutes later, dressed as casually as he'd ever been; opting against his weighted training gear, he'd chosen a pair of black pants, and a sleeveless red t-shirt (both of which Pi was surprised he actually owned), to go with his usual gloves and boots. As an afterthought, he'd grabbed his custom scouter out of one of the many inner pockets of his trench coat.

Looking around, he noticed Kat was already sitting at one of the tables, nursing a fairly large cup of coffee, and obviously having a little trouble sitting still; whether from the coffee, or excitement, he wasn't sure. He was a little worried that a caffeinated Kat seemed to resemble a sugar-high Oran or Lime, but realised that a hyped up Kat was less likely to cause trouble than a tired Kat, so he left her to it.

Taking a seat at another of the tables, he was joined shortly by the other Saiyans on the ship, each leaving room for their respective mates, and shortly after that, the twins darted in, grabbing their own seats; once the females joined them, the seating would go, anti-clockwise, Kaen, Oran, Lime, April, Avarrdo, Truniz, Kellre, Raene, and finally Pi, who herself was next to Kaen, the two mothers taking up either end of the table. From the faint bruises and cuts on their faces, it was obvious the twins had been getting in an early morning workout; he was proud of them for that.

Before long, the kitchen robots, relegated to watching while the Saiyan women cooked, began the bucket-brigade-like line up they used for serving up Saiyan meals, or normal feasts. Throwing a grin at the older men, Kaen quipped, "If nothing else, the service is good 'round these parts." The three of them grinned back, before staring hungrily at the assembled food; no one made a move to take any though. It could be said that it was an unspoken rule that everyone had to be there before anyone could eat, except for the fact that particular rule was _very_ much spoken about, usually just after it'd been broken.

Before long, the three women joined their partners and family at the table, and the gorging began. By some twist of irony, of the men, Kaen was the neatest eater; that's not to say he was a neat eater by any means, but compared to the others... The twins, on the other hand, practically dived headfirst into their food. The Women, by comparison, were much more dignified, but how they managed to retain that while stuffing enough food to kill an average person into their stomaches was anyone's guess.

Some time during this feast, otherwise known to Saiyans anywhere as a light breakfast, Frost and Avery entered, each taking their seats and ordering their usual morning victuals: for Frost, a light meal fit for a king, and for Avery, a simple bowl of cereal, with a giant cup of coffee, at least twice the size of the mug in Kat's hands, and at least three times as strong; the birdman liked his coffee. Avery, however, had another agenda on his mind in choosing his seat; he was partially hiding behind his supposed boss, and, if it came to that, using him as a living shield.

In a monumental feat, most likely attested to by their age, the twins finished their meals first, and they practically raced out of the room after doing so. Before they could even take a single step away from the table, Kaen's right arm lashed out, catching both of their collars in a single motion (a feat they always wondered how he did) as he barked, "Stay." before returning his meal, now in it's last legs; however much they wanted to be elsewhere, they wouldn't go against a direct order from their brother.

Taking a quick drink of water, April spoke up, "Oh, if the twins want to they can come along too. I'm sure you won't mind looking after them while we shop around will you Kaen?" The look of horror on his face, and the fact he'd temporarily stopped eating, was answer enough, as his father and the other two men took a moment to grin bastardly at him over the table.

Said look of horror was missed by the twins themselves, the male of which cried out, "But we'll miss valuable training time!" The look on Lime's face showed that she wanted to go, but she said nothing. Turning to his sister, Oran added, "_You_ can go if you want to, but _I_ am staying here." That, of course, decided her, as she began shouting back at how she wasn't going to let him get ahead of her; Kaen made a note to thank his brother from saving him from that.

Smiling down at the young girl, Pi supplied, "Don't worry, I'll find you something nice."

The girl grinned broadly, jumping up to grab Pi around the neck as she chirped, "Thanks big sister! You're the best!"

Finishing his meal, and suppressing a burp, Kaen turned to the twins and said, "I guess I should set you your daily tasks then." He placed one hand on Oran's shoulder, causing the young boy to look him in the eyes, where a short, silent conversation took place. With a nod, he continued, "You're both doing well in increased gravity, and I'm proud of you for that." He paused while the two beamed, before adding, "But today I want you to work with the increased difficulty that comes from lowered temperature, so your goal is to reach zero degrees Celsius, and to keep going below; I won't be satisfied until you can train in sub-zero temperatures, with the gravity still on, of course."

The two shot to attention, snapping him a quick salute and a "Yes sir!" before running off to carry out their tasks. Oran had an extra reason to want to train hard though. In his brother's eyes, he had seen a special reward: Kaen was going to spar with him, one-on-one, when he got back. Oran wasn't sure what he'd done to earn such a reward, but he was determined to work it out, if only so he could keep doing it and get more rewards.

Pi smiled a moment at Kaen before finishing her meal; she could see how much he really cared about them, and it made her feel warm inside. The twins were almost like _his_ children, instead of his siblings; idly, she wondered what he'd be like when the two of them had children themselves... She shook her head; those were thoughts for another day. Swallowing one last mouthful, she wiped her mouth on a nearby napkin, before rushing over to the fidgeting Kat, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her off, exclaiming, "C'mon, let's go find Viola."

As they sped off, the two other women already left to get themselves ready, Truniz went about collecting the dishes; as the only one without a mate, clean-up duty was his job. "Start praying runt. You'll need Kami's help to survive all five of them," he mentioned in passing as he took the plates and things to the kitchen.

Turning to the other two men, namely both his and Pi's fathers, he asked, "How the hell did you two get out of this?"

Kellre just grinned over at Avarrdo as the older man commented, "Because it's your turn now son; deal with it."

Kaen just scowled, "I hate you, you know that right?"

His father just grinned, "Yes, but I'm perfectly okay with that."

Kellre laughed at the exchange, adding his two cents, "Don't worry so much. We made sure to limit the amount of money they took from us, so it won't take them long to drain themselves of it and be ready to come back. Besides, we're the ones with direct control of the teleporter."

"Your not helping you know," Kaen commented dryly, "Less money to spend just means more bargain hunting. In a way, I almost wish they had more money to spend; while I may have to carry more stuff, it'll be over quicker..." The two men opened their mouths to say something, so he quickly added, "No! I do _not_ want you to give them more money."

With a shrug, Avarrdo said, "Just think of it as weights training."

"Weights training?" Kaen said incredulously, "Why the hell to _I_ need weights training? I'm the strongest person on this ship."

Kellre just shrugged, "You take what you can get kid; remember, you have to deal with it now." With that, the three men headed off, talking about something to do with messages and information relays before they were out of earshot; he could tell they were making a show of looking really busy to make sure they didn't get roped in at the last minute. Grumbling to himself irritably, Kaen made his way to the bridge, thinking to himself, 'Might as well get this express ride to hell over with...'

o-o-o

Kaen was waiting patiently on the bridge, leaning against one of the walls, when the three girls arrived; well, he was about as patient as any condemned man is. The green-skinned women looked quite excited, which, given her usual stoic expression, said a lot about her state of mind. Sparing a glance at Flute, who was meditating silently off to one side, she noticed him giving her a slight smile, his eyes still closed, as he commented telepathically, _"Have fun."_

_"I will,"_ She replied quickly, a matching smile on her face.

Kat looked at least three times as excited as Viola was, her eyes shining and her tail swishing about; like Kaen, she had opted to go without the trench coat today, although in her case it was because it would be too annoying to have to take it off all the time; similarly, Viola was without her cloak. Heading over to the teleporter, where the two older women waited, Pi cried out, "We're ready to go. C'mon Kaen."

He sighed to himself, muttering, "Might as well get this over with," to himself quietly, before turning to Frost, tapping the red box on the side of his head and adding, "I'm on channel five. I'll radio in when we're ready for pick-up." The three Saiyans didn't bother to comment on the unusual device; they may never have seen it before, but Kaen _was_ Avarrdo's son, and he _did_ have some aptitude with machines, so obviously he made it himself. Besides, doing anything to delay the shopping trip would only incur the wrath of five females, and there would be no murder today; at least, not until they came back anyway.

This time, Avarrdo headed over to the console as Kaen climbed onto the platform, keying in the commands. When the blue light faded, Kellre grinned at the other menfolk assembled, commented semi-seriously, "Hey Frost, I just noticed an error in the communications relays. Do you think we should shut them down and do a full diagnostic?"

The tone of his voice showed that there was obviously no such error. Smirking, Avery called out, "You're evil. I like you."

Sniggering slightly, Frost asked, "Won't that result in a horrible burning retribution?"

Kellre just smirked, saying, "Hardly," as he hit the enter key, beginning the diagnostic run himself. The laughter in the control room didn't die down for a good ten minutes.

o-o-o

On the planet, the trio of Saiyan women, with Kat, Viola, and Kaen in tow, headed quickly over to the shopping district, while at the same time appearing to be in no hurry to get anywhere. Surrounded by a mass of shops, they huddled together for a quick discussion about where to raid... _ahem_ visit first. Kat had a typical 'kid in a candy store' look, so she was no help, and Viola didn't know what a great many of them were. Nevertheless, a decision was quickly reached, and the group headed off to what would be the first of many dress shops, Kaen following behind diligently.

The womenfolk made a quick raid on the stock of the store, dragging them, and Kaen, over to the dressing rooms, leaving him near the mirrors while they entered the stalls. Like a good boy, he leaned against the nearby wall, so he was facing away from the stalls, but could see whoever exited them out of the corner of his eye; this was hardly his first time playing luggage-monkey, and he'd been trained well.

Kat seemed to be having a great time, almost sprinting around the store with arm loads of clothing, before racing to the changing rooms to try them on. Viola, on the other hand, made no effort to try anything; dresses, obviously, were not her thing. After several minutes of watching these polar opposites in action, his musing was interrupted by a movement in his peripheral vision; his mother exiting the change rooms.

Posing a bit in the mirror to see how she looked, she mused to herself, "This might be a little too young for me. What do you think dear?"

Taking a moment to look over the short skirt she was trying on, he replied diplomatically, "Well, it looks good on you, but I don't think it really suits you."

Still looking over herself in the mirror, she nodded, as if she expected this answer, before muttering, "I should have brought your father along. Oh well." With that, she went to get changed again.

Unsure if he'd given the right answer, he simply added under his breath, "You won't find me disagreeing with you." There was a fairly long pause without anyone coming out, and in the mean time a few of the store workers had huddled together, talking quietly about something; focusing his hearing, he could pick up they were talking about him, saying such things as:

"That guy over there! He's sooo cute!"  
"And I think he's here with family, so he might be single!"  
"Oooh, should we ask for his number?"

Kaen tried to ignore them, hoping that if he didn't pay them any attention, they'd leave him alone, but no such luck. One of them managed to work up the courage to approach him, saying in what was an obvious attempt at hitting on him, "Hey cutie, you seem lonely. Would you like me to keep you company?"

Turning his head slowly towards them, he pretended to think it over for a moment, before simply replying, "No," and looking away again. He had to fight back a grin at the crestfallen looks on their faces as they slinked away to nurse their 'wounded hearts'.

No sooner had they walked away he noticed movement from the change rooms again. Turning towards whoever it was, he felt his jaw drop, and could've sworn his heart stopped beating for a moment. There stood Pi wearing a full, strapless, formal dress, ruby red in colour, with a slit down one side, that sat at a fairly modest height, and by the looks of things, appeared to be satin; she was a goddess. She did appear to be trying not to trip over the hem, however, so it was obviously a little big on her. Brushing phantom wrinkles out of it as she observed herself in the mirror, she mused, "I can't believe Kat talked me into this..."

Not trusting his voice, and doubting he could make it work even if he did, he commented in the one voice that could never lie, _"You look... amazing. Not something I'd see you in all the time, but still... I... don't think I know any words to describe how beautiful you look..."_

She smiled shyly at him, her face stained with a massive blush, but she still replied, _"Chances are you're trying to figure out how to get me out of this thing."_

He grinned a bit, _"Well... maybe, but can you blame me?"_ Instead of replying, she gave him a quick kiss, pulling back as Kat rushed over, gushing about how nice that dress was in speeds almost unheard of. Still smiling, she picked up the skirts, to make sure she didn't step on them, and headed back to change again; while it needed work, the dress had passed the test. One everyone had collected their wanted purchases, Kat looking visibly troubled she hadn't found anything she liked, despite having tried on practically half of the entire store, they paid for their selections, piled them all in Kaen's arms, and moved on. Next stop, a shoe store.

o-o-o

Carefully setting the bags down near the entrance, Kaen leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes. As soon as they had arrived in the shoe store, Kat had run off to find a new pair of boots or three, while Viola just wandered around the store, no intention to purchase anything, but curious as to the sorts of things other people used. The three Saiyan women, however, had instantly fallen into a discussion about the need to find shoes to match their new outfits, and had begun bothering one of the clerks.

Sighing to himself, Kaen began doing some light meditation, keeping his senses locked on to the five women, in case they needed him for anything, as well as the area around himself, or rather the area around where he'd placed the current horde of purchases; he knew that he'd have strips torn from his hide if he let anything happen to them. Fortunately, their time in this store was significantly smaller than in the previous store; unfortunately, they still managed to find quite a bit, and shoeboxes are quite a bulky item. Their next destination: the nearest lingerie store.

o-o-o

Kat squealed a bit in delight as they entered the store, causing Kaen to wince a bit as he shook his head at her, before moving to lean against the wall again as the five women began their search. Of the five of them, there was only one Kaen wanted to see in anything like the contents of this store, and he could tell she was making an obvious effort to hide her selections from him, so he closed his eyes to make it easier on her; well, that, and Kaen didn't want to see anything his mother picked up. No sense scarring himself for life if it couldn't be helped.

As she looked about the various items in intimate apparel, it occurred to Viola that she didn't actually _need_ to buy any of this stuff - after all, she could just create whatever she wanted with a small amount of effort - but, despite that, she kept looking, taking the occasional item; there was just some voice in the back of her head, one she didn't even know existed until the last shopping trip, that just screamed at her it was better this way.

After a few minutes, Kaen could feel a glare on him, so, opening his eyes, he could see he'd attracted the attention of the somewhat rotund-looking storeowner, who proceeded to glare him out like he'd been perving on every female within a half-mile radius. Glaring back at the woman, more out of boredom than a need to intimidate her, he noticed he'd also attracted the attention of a fairly attractive attendant, who walked over and asked him, in a far too friendly voice, "Hello sir, are you shopping for a gift? If you like, I could model outfits for you."

"I'm sure you'd be most willing to help," Kaen remarked dryly, "And as tempting as that sounds, I'm going to give you a definite 'no'; my girl over there will no doubt not be very pleased if I even think anything else." He inclined his head in Pi's direction, and when the girl looked where he'd pointed, she let out a fearful 'eep' at the glare on the young Saiyan's face, before hurrying off. The glare then focused on Kaen. Looking over at her with a raised eyebrow, he asked, _"What? What did _I_ do?"_

She kept up her a moment longer before breaking out into a grin, replying, _"I know. I just like to keep you on your toes."_

He glared mildly at her, drawling, _"If I didn't love you so much, I'd really hate you some times."_

Fighting back her second blush of the trip, she just kept grinning, _"I know, and I'm okay with that."_ Shaking his head, but grinning a bit himself, Kaen just returned to his meditative position, while the girls finished up their raiding. As she handed her purchases to Kaen, she chided, "Now don't peek. You'll see them soon enough, and if you're a good boy and don't ruin the surprise there'll be a special bonus involved."

He grinned again, "Well, I usually hate surprises, but in this case, I'll make an exception." With that, and with their purchases safely loaded onto their trusty pack mule, they moved on.

o-o-o

Three torturous hours later, the girls decided they'd had enough. Roughly two hours ago, the piles of clothes and assorted accessories had become too high for Kaen to actually see where he was going, so he was forced to rely on his ki sense to direct him. As the decision to finish up became unanimous, Raene mentioned, "We should probably head back up, the boys will be wanting their lunch soon."

"So, everybody ready to leave then?" Kaen asked, a little too eagerly. The women all nodded, although the gesture was lost to him; the fact no one voiced a protest was good enough for him. In a feat of Saiyan athletics, Kaen reached his tail up to press the communicator button on his scouter, waiting for the microphone to extend before radioing, "We're ready for extraction."

The reply he got made his blood run cold: a relay message, announcing, "Radio systems diagnostic in place, please wait thirty minutes to one hour before trying again. Thank you, and have a nice day." At this, Kaen began cursing loudly and violently in at least a dozen languages, including Saiya-Go and Basic; if his travels taught him nothing else, it was how to curse people out in no less than a dozen languages.

Somehow, amidst the horde of curse words, Pi managed to pick up what was wrong, smiling as she said, "Another hour? How fun. Come on, I saw this nice store a little while back..." Kaen just grumbled under his breath, slowly working out a plan to exact vengeance on whoever did this to him. The twins didn't know how, and Avery wasn't that stupid, so that left Frost, and the other Saiyans. Now, to work out who...

o-o-o

"Seems like someone tried to get a radio broadcast through," Avarrdo commented dryly, turning the page in his book as he lounged around, his legs up on the desk in front of him.

"Such a pity the system won't be ready for another hour..." Kellre added, making a few quick notes into the pad in front of him.

Truniz just laughed, setting his magazine down, "Hey bro, I think you got some of your sarcasm on me."

Fighting back laughter of his own, Avery stood up from his console and walked out of the room, calling over his shoulder, "Well then, if you gentlemen will excuse me, I will be spending the next hour barricading myself inside a room somewhere. No doubt when he gets back he will be either half-dead or homicidal, and I don't plan on being anywhere in range if it's the latter." None of the men chose to point out that, to Kaen, being on the same planet was being in range. Flute also took this moment to slip out of the room, a smirk on his face.

The twins raced in a moment later, turning to their father and asking, "Is mum back yet? We're hungry."

Avarrdo just shrugged, replying, "Mum's going to be late, so why don't you get the 'bots to make a snack for you."

The pair of pint-sized terrors just shrugged, "'Kay." With no more fuss, they sped off again; the robot chefs weren't as good as their mother, but when you're eight and hungry, any food is better than none.

o-o-o

Another hour had passed, and in a feat Kaen didn't think was possible, the five women had managed to pile enough stuff in his arms he needed to use his golden transformation to hold them all, as well as using some of his ki to steady them, lest the pile topple over, most likely landing on him. Checking her own scouter, Pi noticed an hour has passed, prompting Kaen to radio in again.

Using his tail to hit the communicate button again, he hissed out, "If you mongrels don't bring us back now I will _personally_ see to it that the rest of your lives, as short as they may be, will be a pain-filled hell." While perhaps not the most appropriate thing to be saying, he was tired and angry, and in no mood for any shit.

The message returned was again not to his liking: "Filter error, please re-transmit the message." If he listened hard enough, he thought he could hear laughter in the background.

Growling harshly, he spat, "Bring. Us. Back. NOW!"

This time Frost's voice came through loud and clear, "Teleporting now." With a soft hum, the group were back on the Icebreaker again, flames dancing around Kaen's tail as he set the enormous pile of crap on the ground; with his arms loaded, his tail was the one place he could vent ki without causing damage, and after what he'd been through, damaging the pile of assorted... whatever, was stupid, and suicidal.

April and Raene quickly moved to collect their purchases, Avarrdo and Kellre all too eager to help them. A fire burned in Kaen's eyes as he watched them leave, silently screaming, 'TRAITORS!', before turning his gaze to the two remaining men. Cowering under Kaen's green-eyes glare, Frost stammered a quick excuse about needing to inspect the pod deployment systems and hurried out, passing Flute, who had walked in to offer his assistance to Viola.

Truniz, being the only male left, offered to assist Kat, but she girl just grinned and shook her head, two shadow beings appearing out of nowhere and carrying her stuff for her. A feral smirk on his face, Kaen phased in front of the older man, saying entirely too calmly, "Truniz, you and me need to have a little chat..."

The man just barked a laugh, replying, "You're barking up the wrong tree. I know nothing about this ship..."

Before he got too far Kaen grabbed him by the collar, slamming him roughly against the wall and growling, "I don't think so. Now, you are going to tell me who did it, and I am going to start breaking bones until you do."

Grinning, Truniz just quipped, "You've got power runt, I'll give you that, but you lack style." With that, he just disappeared; he didn't phase out, he just vanished, meaning that the Truniz he'd been roughing up was a either near-living copy, or a near perfect illusion.

Growling harshly, Kaen put his fist through the wall - which fortunately was only an internal wall - before ripping his fist out of the wall and spinning around to Pi, pointing a finger at her while shaking in barely contained rage, his ki-coated tail slicing gashes into the already damaged wall as he announced shakily, "Never again. I don't care what you say, no amount of talking, pleading, bribing or cajoling will get me to do that again, understand?"

Pi just giggled at him, grabbing a hold of his arm as she said, "Come and help me with this Kaen; I'll even give you a private show of what I've got." In her head, Pi was a little upset that he'd told her he would never again take her shopping, but given the pure rage she could feel through the bond, perhaps it was better that way. Giggling a little again as she watched him take deep breaths to calm himself, she commented, "You know, you're cute when you're homicidally angry."

Finally calm enough to think rationally, and pointedly ignoring Pi's comment, Kaen picked up Pi's stuff and carried it to their room, all the while muttering to himself how much he was going to make the culprit pay as he tried to work out who'd done it. Giggling again, Pi pushed Kaen onto the bed after he set her stuff down, snuggling into his chest while gazing up at him, purring out, "Are you really going to punish them because they made you spend time with me Kapskaen?" in her most innocent, and yet somehow alluring voice, while making her eyes look bigger than normal.

Groaning softly, Kaen muttered, "Damnit... I hate it when you do that..."

Silencing his protests with a kiss, she added, "Now, I do believe I promised to show you all the things you can help me get out of, right?" Mood changed, he tried to hide his grin, he really did; he failed, and rather miserably at that, as the show began.

End Chapter 23

To be continued...


	27. A Second Moment of Rest

--- The Phoenix Chronicles ---

Chapter 24 - A Second Moment of Rest

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Kat yawned broadly, lying her head against the trunk of the tree as she sprawled herself along the think branch. Over to her far left, the ship sat in a newly-created clearing, the droids running about the surface repairing the damage incurred from a recent meteor shower. It was a remote enough planet to allow a temporary stop for a relatively mundane issue, and on the whole looked like most other planet's she'd visited, save for the odd purple trees, like the one she now lounged in.

Looking around below her, she spotted Flute and Viola meditating silently beside the burbling creek that ran through the grassy knoll they had set the ship down beside. Kaen, however, was using the time to put the twins through a few new drills; by the speed they were going, or rather weren't going, he was obviously showing them something new. Pi sat on one of the rocks nearby, occasionally calling out corrections or words of encouragement, but otherwise staying out of it. With another yawn, she focused her attention on Kaen's teaching, hoping to pick up something useful.

The remainder of the little group was still on the ship. Frost, with the assistance of the three adult male Saiyans, was assisting in the repair; on the whole, there was little risk that the meteor shower had done enough damage to weaken the hull enough for a breech, but better safe than sorry. The two women, however, were going about their usual cleaning tasks; they'd sooner blast off their own feet before relying on robots to do their work for them. Avery had disappeared soon after they landed, but that was hardly her problem.

Pi smiled to herself as she watched Kaen putting the twins through their paces; while he face remained stern, she could see the warmth he had for them in his eyes. After a while she stood up, tugging on Kaen's arm as she said, "Let's give them a little break."

Nodding at her, he turned back to them and barked, "Alright, take a breather. I expect the pair of you to do this perfectly when you get back." The two drew themselves up straight, bowed to him once, and then ran off to do whatever it was they did during their breaks in training.

Pi smiled again as they ran off, commented, "You're being easy on them."

He scowled, "I'm not the one coddling them." He made no effort to dispute her claim, however.

She giggled, "You don't have to act so scandalized. It's not a bad thing to be nice to them. I never said you were _too_ easy."

"Didn't have to." He shrugged, "I know I'm going easy on them. After all, I worked you to the bone most days."

"Not that I minded all that much..." She grinned.

He grinned back, "Not that I noticed, no." Sighing softly, he added, "I'm just having trouble pushing them as hard as I probably should. I mean, I missed half their life, and that's a lot of catch-up."

She jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow. "Well, it's not like they've exactly been slacking off all this time." Turning to face him, she poked his chest with her finger, adding, "They just like to make that extra effort for _you_. For some strange reason, they actually respect you."

He shrugged, a grin tugging at the corners of his lips, "Could have worse ambitions?"

"Like trying to be you?" Pi grinned back widely.

He shrugged again, pointing his thumb over at Kat as he answered, "Didn't do you or her any harm." She just kissed him on the cheek, strolling over to the creek. He briefly considered following her, but decided against it, throwing himself into the shade under one of the trees, ironically the one Kat was lounging in; well, the one she was in before she jumped down to join Pi anyway.

o-o-o

Inside the ship, Truniz lounged at one of the currently unused consoles. He had no real desire to do anything, and so, there he was, sleeping soundly against, of all places, Kat's console. Moving in his sleep, his head rolled to one side, coming to rest on a fairly inconspicuous button, pressing it in. Nothing seemed to happen...

o-o-o

Catching up with Pi, Kat chirped, "It's nice out here isn't it?"

The older girl nodded, a smile on her face, "Yes, it is. The purple trees are kind of funny, but other than that it seems like a nice place."

"I dunno," Kat began, taking a quick drink from the stream and looking around before continuing, "We had trees almost like those back home. In fact, there were trees in almost as many colours as there were flowers."

"Sounds nice," Pi mused, a wistful smile on her face, "I remember the trees in our old training ground back home, usually blackened from errant ki blasts." She paused, casting her gaze Kaen's way, "But then a lot of them were used for target practice I suppose."

Kat grinned cheekily, asking, "Was he as blunt as a kid as is he now?"

"Worse," Pi griped, "It took me a while to beat the small amount of manners into him he has now." She paused, giggling a bit before adding, "Scorch my dress will he..." When Kat just tilted her head curiously, Pi answered the unasked question, a sly smile on her face as she recounted the tale, "That's how we met. He shot a ki blast at me, scorching my dress, and it degraded from there into a fight; his older brother stepped in before we could finish it however. Then Kaen started training me, and the rest, as they say, is history."

Kat giggled, "Not exactly the most romantic story, but whatever works for you."

"On the contrary," Pi argued good-naturedly, "Many Saiyan girls dream of meeting their mate in such a way." She shot a wink at Kaen, and giggled when he rolled his eyes at her, adding, "He's still sore because it was his fault it all started."

Once her self-proclaimed sister had settled down, Kat asked curiously, "What was it like on Vegeta-Sei?" She didn't want to dig up bad memories of their old home, but knowing she'd never see it with her own eyes, she wanted to know what it looked like.

Pi's eyes got a far away look to them as she recalled her home, a fond smile on her face. "It was a mix of technology and wasteland, with small reserves of grassland and forest. The Tuffles, the previous occupants of the planet, built much of the cities but Saiyans took control ages past. The wastelands and grasslands remain for training purposes, and the forests both for speed training, and to sustain the planet."

A mild look of shock on her face, Kat managed, "Sounds... nice, I guess."

Pi just grinned, "As my father would say: 'A harsh planet for a harsh people, and one that won't die easily at that'."

The young redhead just nodded, "I'd heard that Saiyans were naturally stronger because of the environment they grew up in. I guess that explains that."

"Well, that, and the fact the gravity was ten times stronger than galactic standard, because the planet's core was so dense."

"Makes sense," Kat nodded, "From what I'd heard, the gravity on my planet was less than standard." She grinned wryly, a habit she had clearly picked up from Kaen, "Guess that would explain why my race is so much weaker than most wouldn't it?"

"Well, at least you're more graceful than most," Pi supplied, in an attempt to cheer the younger girl up a bit.

"You're just trying to make me feel better." The two girls shared a grin, "Thanks, I appreciate it, but I've accepted the fact I'm probably going to be weaker than most enemies I run into, and I've already worked out ways to compensate for it."

Pi laughed, "You're not that bad. You've got to stop comparing yourself to Kaen and I; we're strong even by Saiyan standards. I've seen some of your techniques, and they are powerful."

Kat just grinned again, "I try."

The two girls' conversation drew to a close as they heard Kaen whistle sharply, indicating to the twins that their break was over; a sign they'd come to understand long ago. With a nod, the pair moved to watch, sitting down on the rock he was on before as Oran and Lime raced back into the clearing, ready for the next round.

o-o-o

Back inside the ship, Kellre raised an eyebrow in question as a panel on one of the consoles lit up and began beeping, demanding attention. Walking over and pressing the button, he nodded to himself as he read the printout, stroking his chin and calling out to Avarrdo, "We'll be getting guests soon."

"How many?" the older man asked.

"Not much," Kellre replied with a shrug, "Just a small garrison." Stroking his chin again, he mused, "You know, I keep forgetting this thing's stolen." He could have been describing the weather for all the variation in his voice.

"I know what you mean," Avarrdo replied, setting his schematics down before adding, "Well, it looks like it won't be such a quiet day after all. Should we tell the others?"

Kellre just waved his hand dismissively, returning to his work, "They'll find out soon enough." Nodding, Avarrdo just returned to his own work, making a mental note to re-engage the radio shielding later.

o-o-o

Kaen cast a critical eye over the twins as they fell into line in front of him, asking, "So, you rested and ready to continue?" They nodded together, but before he could start giving them their orders, the sky lit up with the trails of falling drop pods, which appeared to be landing just over the horizon. A grin breaking his otherwise cold face, Kaen commented, "Looks like we have guests, and I'm willing to bet they won't be friendly."

Pi stood up quickly, dusting herself off slightly as she commented, "Looks like there might be something interesting to do today after all." Kat stood up after her, a grin on her face matching the one both Kaen and Pi wore; Kaen didn't know whether to be scared, or proud. Flute and Viola stood up also, both removing their weighted clothing where they stood, and flexing their muscles.

From the ship, April's voice called out, "Don't be too long; it's almost lunch time! And Kaen, don't let the twins over-excite themselves!"

"I won't." Even from inside, she could tell he was rolling his eyes at her. Turning to the twins, he asked, "So, you ready for this? This'll be your first real fight with something that'll fight back, and I don't want you freezing up at a crucial moment." They just nodded solemnly, so he added, "If it gets too rough for you, keep your head down and get behind me; I won't let anything happen to you."

"Let's go!" Pi cried cheerfully, "It would be rude to keep them waiting."

"Well, we wouldn't want to seem ungracious hosts." Kaen grinned back, taking to the air, and the others fell in behind him.

o-o-o

Entering the clearing where the ships had landed, the group could see no less than one hundred and fifty Cold Empire soldiers assembled; a full garrison, and then some. Grinning maliciously, Kaen began the fight with a warm-up shot, firing a series on nine blasts with a cry of "Firestorm!" Six of the grunts took a blast through the chest, killing them instantly, their faces forever frozen in shock, while three more dived out of the way on reflex alone.

Pi smirked, charging up energy in her hand before flinging it at the ground; "Gaia Disruption!" The ground shook and ki blasts burst forth. Only two of them were killed in the barrage, but ten more were knocked from their feet.

Flute clenched his fist, raising it above his hand as he focused ki into it. With a cry of "Raging Storm!" he threw the hand down, releasing the collected ki; twelve were instantly pinned as the ground below them became a crater in seconds before, with a quick flick of Flute's wrist, the ground beneath them detonated in a fairly impressive explosion, vaporising them.

Bracing her right hand with her left, Viola quickly charged up a thunder ball, releasing it with a cry of "Shockwave!" One flash of light later, seven charred corpses collapsed to the ground.

Forming a ball of black ki, Kat flung it at her opponents, detonating it with a cry of "Torment!" Eight more grunts were caught in the explosion, falling to the ground; the attack was non-lethal, but no doubt they'd wish it had killed them when they awoke.

The twins seemed undecided on what to do, engaging in a quick game of rock-paper-scissors; to his sister's chagrin, Oran won. Reaching between them to cup their hands together, they focused a ki ball that seemed torn between orange and red, flickering between the two colours, before throwing their hands out together, shouting, "Sibling Rivalry!" Four of the soldiers were caught in the epicentre of the resulting explosion, while three more fell to splash damage; the twins seemed pleased with that result.

In a mockery of all things combat, the remaining hundred-odd soldiers still alive attempted to fight back, but they had been caught off guard, and were terrified by the 'demons' that had turned up to boot. A few of them attempted to fight back, but even the twins easily managed to knock the blasts aside; at least half of them were too scared to even blink, let alone retaliate.

With a sudden cry, a bird flew into the clearing, changing in mid-air to reveal Avery in all his glory, the protean weapon on his arm shifting forms into a fairly large barrel. With a smirk, Avery fired, a wrist-length rocket launching from the barrel, exploding mid-flight to break up into five smaller rockets, which then impacted among the ranks; Avery's Cluster Rocket technique. Eighteen of the soldiers were caught in the explosions, and with a massive grin, Avery called out to the others, "_That's_ how you do it!"

Not to be outdone, Pi reached her hand up to her left shoulder, dropping to the ground as she drew her sword, remarking, "Time for me to test out my new toy." With a grin, Pi levelled the green blade, shouting, "Zantetsuken!" as she dashed forward in a streak of brilliant green light, reappearing on the other side of the garrison and sheathing her sword again; turning back around, she watched as twenty-four of them suddenly fell in half, in a direct line from where she started to where she stood now.

Kaen just grinned, calling out, "Nice work. Glad to see it meets your approval." Pi simply winked at her mate, and poked her tongue out at Avery.

The gauntlet thrown, Viola began charging up her latest technique, copying her male counterpart from their last battle in flinging blasts around at random. Unlike his technique, however, her blasts didn't detonate; instead, when she shouted "Gigavolt Hellzone!" arcs of lightning began dancing between the ki balls, frying sixteen grunts.

Flute raised an eyebrow at her, remarking, "Interesting name..." The humour in his voice was dry enough to bake bricks.

Viola just shrugged, "Originality was never my strong suit."

Kaen just raised his hand, charging an ever-increasing ball of red ki, which, the observant onlooker could see, had another ki ball inside it, exactly one half the width of the other. "You want destruction?" Kaen asked, before grinning manically, "_This_ is how it's done! Nova Destroyer!" The devastating attack cut a swath through the remaining fifty-odd soldiers, leaving a glowing crater deep in the centre of the clearing, and incinerating no less than thirty of them instantly.

The twins gaped in awe for a moment, before rushing over and gushing about how cool that was, tripping over each other. Pi, on the other hand, just called out semi-angrily, "Hey! That almost singed my hair!"

He just shrugged, calling back, "Well you shouldn't have been standing so close should you?" Flute just shook his head, cutting down five more with his eye beams. He felt no need to show-off or to one-up the others; besides which, after Kaen's attack, there wasn't much left of the clearing to show-off in.

Raising her hands, Kat focused momentarily, black flame dancing between her extended palms. With a cry of "Hellfire!" a gout of dark fire blasted forward, and the remaining grunts were turned to cinders by the wave of unholy flame.

Turning to his sister, Kaen remarked dryly, "Are you stealing moves from me?"

Visibly blushing, she hung her head, expecting to be chewed out as she stuttered, "No... Well, not really... Kinda... Yeah..." She looked up again as Kaen, and the newly arrived Pi, burst out laughing.

Reigning in his laughter, Kaen whistled sharply again, drawing the attention of the twins. When they flew over, he just inclined his head back in the direction they'd come from, saying simply, "Food." They grinned, and the group flew back to their new home away from home, as life once again returned to normal.

End Chapter 24

To be continued...


	28. Springing the Trap

--- The Phoenix Chronicles ---

Chapter 25 - Springing the Trap

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Kaen grinned in spite of himself as he stood on the bridge of the Icebreaker, observing the vast nothingness of space as the ship sped to its next destination. In an attempt to salvage what was left of the Saiyan race, a relay signal had been sent out, providing a series of safe recon points for Saiyan refugees, pickup points for any and all remaining Saiyan ships, all of them safe from the Cold Empire; and many of them worlds he himself had freed during his travels. One of the planets was special, however, and it was this planet they were headed to now; he remembered how much fun he had last time he was there, prompting the grin.

Frost maintained his vigil over the controls; with the creators of the ship onboard, things had gone a lot more smoothly, with fewer hiccups (however, with a Nekojin and a Torijin on board, it was impossible for there to be _no_ hiccups). By Kaen's request, Kat was managing the twins' training session for the day, putting them through a low power/high technique workout.

With the hiss of an automatic door opening, Avarrdo and Kellre strode on to the bridge, the latter asking, "How much farther from the bait planet?"

Frost just responded simply, "Half an hour at the most."

"I should go see how the pests are doing then shouldn't I?" Kaen asked, more to himself than anything, as he walked off.

Avarrdo chuckled, "Save your strength boy."

Kaen just waved lazily over his shoulder, "Why? I've got plenty of it."

Turning from her departing mate, Pi asked curiously, "Bait planet?"

Avarrdo nodded to himself, replying, "It would seem Frieza has declared open season on Saiyans as a whole, even handing out rewards to those who successfully kill our kind. To this end, we left the co-ordinates of the first 'safe world' un-coded on purpose, to see who we could flush out."

"It's a fairly standard strategy," Avery supplied, "If you think there's going to be a trap, the best way to make sure it to spring it, and be prepared to catch the bar before it snaps down on your back."

"That's why we're doing it," Kellre added, "Because, I think we have more than enough capable hands on board to break a few heads; not to say the other Saiyans can't take care of themselves, but we do have some of the strongest right here, and if we don't do this now, chances are they'll have all the fun before we get there."

Avery just rolled his eyes, replying sarcastically, "We couldn't have that could we?"

All Saiyans present just grinned, replying together, "Of course not!" before bursting into laughter, and, seemingly to spite himself, Avery couldn't help joining in; Frost just shook his head, if only to hide the grin on his own face.

Kaen walked back in shortly after, this time with Kat and the twins in tow; no sooner had the terrors set foot in the room when they cried, "Are we there yet?"

"Almost," Frost replied, "Whoever is headed down, hop on the transporter." Kaen was quick to hop on, followed just as quickly by Pi, Kat, and the twins. Looking at each other and sharing a nod, Avarrdo, Kellre and Truniz joined them. "Anyone else game?" Frost asked; Avery, the only person left in the room beside himself, just waved his hand lazily. With a nod, Frost began entering the commands, "Alright then, hang on now, you'll be there momentarily." With that, they were enveloped by a blue light, and beamed down to the planet's surface.

o-o-o

When the light faded, they were on the surface of a scorched world, lifeless and still, save for the occasional lava spout. Looking around, Avarrdo mused, "Hmm, extreme volcanic activity that, in several years, might be able to support life again. This has all the hallmarks of your work alright." The last remark was aimed at his son.

Said son just shrugged, "One of my tech tests. I was curious just how powerful it was."

"I assumed as much," he replied dryly.

"No style..." Truniz muttered.

"Hey, I was fifteen, and it seemed like a good idea at the time." Kaen defended himself hotly.

"Well then," Kellre interrupted, "Let's not keep them waiting." With no more words needed, the group took off to the east; on a dead world, it's not hard to find the few signs of life that would be their enemy.

o-o-o

As they neared the area the concentration of power came from, they could see a group of just seven blue-skinned beings, decked out in Cold Empire armour. Grinning, Kaen muttered, "This looks promising..." before turning to the others, commented, "Better not keep them waiting; that would be rude." The group landed on the ground, Kaen a mere step in front of Pi, who stood just behind him to his left, and Oran, Lime, and Kat (who had shifted her appearance mid-flight to look Saiyan) stood further being him to the right. Kellre stood behind his daughter, on the left, and Avarrdo was behind Kaen on the right; Truniz was in the middle of the both of them.

On the whole, the seven blue-skinned creatures looked about equal to them; their power level was slightly lower, but that was to be expected. 'This would almost be a fair fight,' Kaen thought to himself, fighting back a bastardly grin, 'If the lot of us weren't holding back over half our power.'

The leader of the blue soldiers spoke up, sneering, "I was wondering when you monkeys would start showing up."

"Well," Kaen replied mockingly, "As the guests of honour, we _do_ need to be fashionably late."

The leader just barked a laugh, "Idiots. Your transmission was easy to translate, no matter the static. What kind of fool broadcasts information like that on an open network? Frieza wants you all hunted down and killed like the animals you are; being in one place just makes the job easier."

"Actually," Kellre replied in a lecturing tone, "That information was just bait to draw you away from the real locations we're gathering our forces. That 'static', as you called it, is actually Saiyan battle code, created purely for the purpose of being relayed over open networks safely; none of the Cold Empire computers or technicians know of it's existence."

"And don't bother trying to radio this in to anyone," Avarrdo added, "I think you'll find you're being jammed."

"Oh, one last thing," Truniz smirked, "Your scouters are only showing us at 10 of our actual power levels, thanks to a little ability called 'ki suppression'."

Their leader laughed again, but it wasn't quite as confident as last time, "Yeah right."

"Actually sir," one of the others pointed out, "We _are_ being jammed sir."

The leader shook his head, "Anyone can do that; the rest of it is a bluff."

"A bluff, eh?" Kaen grinned, turning to the others, "Shall we?" The other Saiyan men just looked back at him with feral grins, as did Pi, so he turned back around, bending his knees slightly and clenching his fists as he focused on bringing his power to the fore, mirrored by the others; he didn't bother taking it beyond. A red aura flared into life around Kaen, seeming to feed off the surrounding environment. Seconds later, a deep green aura flared up around Pi, followed by light blue, white, and golden auras around Avarrdo, Truniz, and Kellre, respectively.

As the roar from five mouths began rising, so too did loose pieces of the environment, rocks of increasing sizes being lifted into the air as the flood of power began digging deeper into the already volatile ground. It was about now that all seven of the enemies' scouters exploded, one after another, and yet their power kept rising. Finally, with one massive shout, their energy levels capped out, creating minor tornados around each of them, before the wind died down, the airborne rocks falling back to the ground, and the aura's around the five combatants receded to feint glows; Kaen's eyes and hair had also taken on a mild rust-like tinge, and Pi's a faint green glow.

It was Pi that broke the standoff, making a single fist out of both hands, and slamming it into the ground with a cry of "Aftershock!" Seeing this, their seven foes took to the air moments before the ground below them exploded, the shards of earth causing superfluous damage at best.

Taking advantage of their airborne foes, Kaen charged ki in both of his hands, flinging it towards them with a shout of, "Firestorm!" Despite the ensuing shower of ki, only two of them were actually struck by the wave of blasts, and even then came out relatively unscathed, their armour smoking slightly.

The seven enemies attacked as one, firing down powerful dark blasts with a shout of "Death Rain!" The group of Saiyans (Kat included as a near-Saiyan) all dove out of the way of the onslaught, but Truniz and Avarrdo were unfortunate enough to take some splash damage; minor damage, but annoying nonetheless.

Summoning her own brand of dark ki, Kat attempted to call forth a pair of her Shadow Warriors, but she was interrupted by another blast from above. Diving out of the way, she lost her focus, the ki dispersing as she cursed, "Damnit!" Looking around, she noticed the three older Saiyan men were nowhere to be seen before, with a sudden flare of ki, they appeared behind the group of enemies, Truniz hitting one with a hammer-blow, Avarrdo round-house kicking another, and Kellre catching a third across the face with an elbow, stunning them, and knocking them to the ground.

In a flare of energy, the twins burst off the ground, splitting up, only to spin in midair and tag-team the same opponent. Oran threw a flying kick to the man's face, and Lime did the same to his back, and with a sickening crack, the body spun uncontrollably, before crashing into the ground, shuddering a bit before dissolving into a slime-like substance; a quick glance at the remaining six showed they were glowing slightly. Grinning at each other, the twins cried out, "Cool!"

Kat raised her arms, clenched fists together, surrounded with dark ki. With a yell, she drew her fists back to either side, throwing them forward together and releasing the energy with a shout of "Titan's Shadow!" There were no obvious effects from her technique, save the shadow rushing along the ground; it was that shadow that was the attack. Of the three enemies standing on the ground, two of them managed to realise what was going on and take to the air before the invisible energy, to which the shadow reflected, destroyed them; one did not.

Seeing as it had worked so well last time, the twins tried the same trick again, but their foe had clearly learned their lesson, side-stepping at the last second, and causing the two to go careening into each other. Groaning to himself, Kaen called out, "Watch what you're doing next time would you?" The pair just rubbed their heads from their position on the ground, causing him to shake his head at them, 'and they were doing so well too...'

The three men opted to try something similar, only much less hazardous. Phasing in at the right time, Avarrdo delivered a punishing kick to his target's torso, followed by Truniz appearing behind him with a haymaker, which their foe was fast enough to spin around and catch; that, however, just left him open to the knee drop from above, courtesy of Kellre. Despite the severity of the beating, however, the target remained standing, albeit wobbling a little.

Pi levelled her hands at a further target, incinerating it with her Titan Burst technique. With three of their number killed, the remaining four tried to even the odds, but found their efforts for naught, as even Kat and the twins were able to evade the attacks, despite the surprising ferocity.

Charging towards one of them, Kaen drew his sword, the flame-styled blade glowing, if it could be called that, with black ki as he swung. Through value of shock alone, the blue-skinned warrior managed to dodge backwards, but, following through with the momentum, Kaen spun around, the blade changing colour to an orange glow as he planted it beneath his foe's ribs, grinning as he gloated, "That feel nice?" The man, however, was wounded, and quite possibly mortally so, but not dead, head butting him, and driving the sword out of his body.

As their opponent's pressed the attack again, they found themselves hard pressed to do any damage at all, let alone lasting damage; of the entire group, only Pi was hit, and even then, the worst she got was a kick to the chest, that hurt her pride more than anything. In retaliation, she kicked the man back, cracking him right on the skull; he was dazed, and there was no real damage done, but payback had been served.

The twins moved to attack again, this time choosing to attack at range, Oran using his Giga Cannon, and Lime her Blast Cannon. As the blasts streaked towards the enemies, they curved the beams at the last second, trying a different style of pincer move, but like the time before their foe saw it coming and dived out of the way; this time, however, there was no damage to themselves.

Kellre just laughed, "Pay attention you two, we'll show you how it'd done. Truniz?" The younger man nodded, phasing in behind one of the enemy soldiers, and delivering a punishing kick to its neck, sending it flying towards his brother. With a smirk, Kellre charged up a blast, waiting until the enemy was almost upon him before firing, with a shout of "Meteor Blast!" The deep orange blast slammed into their opponent's midsection, sending him skyward, where Avarrdo was waiting with an arm extended. With a matching smirk, he cried out, "Fission Wave!" The radioactive-green energy wave crashed into the blue man's back, driving him deep into the ground; while thoroughly thrashed, their opponent was still alive, albeit in a lot of pain.

Looking around, Kaen noticed one of the enemies trying to sneak attack Kat, who was in turn charging one of her attacks, so before the man could make contact, Kaen formed a chain of dark ki in his left hand, lashing out with it and binding the would-be attacker. Smirking as the man fought to break free, Kaen admonished, "It's not very nice to attack people in the back." The hand from which the whip extended began glowing red, as Kaen used one of his techniques to combine two of his attacks, firing a Nova Blast along the Hellfire Whip. The red beam traced it's way along the black chain, and with the target already bound, he had no hope to escape, and was consumed by the blaze.

Taking notes from their elders, Oran raised his hands again to fire off another Giga Cannon, as his sister phased in behind the man, distracting him with a kick to the back of the head; he, however, bore the brunt of the attacks with no sign of damage. With an evil smirk, the man called out, "Fools! Destroying us only makes the rest stronger!" As if trying to prove this fact, he grabbed hold of Lime's leg, throwing her at her brother, and the two collided painfully.

Scowling, Pi raced towards the one that had attacked the twins, drawing her sword. With a cry of "Zantetsuken!" she sped forward in a blur of light, slashing once with the green blade before sheathing it again. The blue creature floated there for a moment, as if unaffected, before simply falling in half, a look of shock frozen on the halves of his face.

As the twins panted out, "Thanks big sister," she just smiled at them, but in her eyes they could see the silent message about their need to learn more. However, they could tell she wasn't admonishing them, merely telling them; Kaen, on the other hand, would no doubt have a few choice words to say later on.

Seeing the twins safe, Kaen's dark whip lashed out again, catching one of the two remaining soldiers around the arm. As the alien struggled to free itself, having seen what happened the last time this whip bound anyone, Kaen raised his sword above his head, the point facing his opponent, as the blade began glowing white. Without warning, a gout of white flame, Balefire, burst forth from the sword, engulfing the man, and leaving nothing behind.

By coincidence or fate, the soldier wearing the markings of the leader was the only one remaining. Kellre dropped to the volcanic ground, taking up a stance that read something fierce, barking out to the others, "I need some time. His final form isn't going to be easy. Keep him occupied."

Shaking her head slightly, Kat muttered to herself, "I hope this works..." Taking a deep breath, she began moving her hands through a series of complex kata, slow at first, then building in speed, before, finally, she was engulfed in white energy (an oddity, considering her normal black ki), and the pillar of blinding light stretched far into the sky. Within seconds, bolts of white light began raining down from the sky, too fast and numerous to count, peppering the area where the one remaining soldier stood, before the rain of light, and the pillar that spawned it, faded out.

When the light died down, the bloodied, broken form of the leader remained, looking like he should have been dead at least ten times over, but he remained standing, shouting, "I will never die!" Sure enough, the wounds began to heal before their eyes, and it became all too clear that, in a short time, he would be as good as new again.

With no words spoken, Avarrdo and Truniz leapt upon him, each man grabbing an arm and twisting it behind his back to hold him in place, before Kellre signalled he was ready. Levelling his hand at the leader, they could see Kellre's eyes were blank, and completely white, and the two men dived out of the way as his cold, distant voice intoned, "Final Destiny." With a shuddering crack of sound, as if the ground itself were crying in pain, the area was enveloped in a thick haze, and when it faded, only Kellre remained, back to his normal self, bending down to pick up a simple glass orb.

Avarrdo was the first to return, musing, "So, that was the last of the Mer'pakann. They are supposedly immortal."

"Not this one," Kellre replied, crushing the orb between his hands, "Not any more."

Sheathing his sword, Kaen turned to where Kat had been standing, with the intention of praising her attack, but was surprised not to find her; instead, he noticed a ginger cat sitting there calmly, surrounded by what he assumed were the clothes she'd been wearing. Sensing his confusion, Pi looked over as well, rushing up to the kitten while almost squealing, "Ooooh, how cute!"

Sparing a glance for Kellre and his father, Kaen landed next to the cat, which promptly leapt onto his shoulder - a fair height, considering its size, or lack thereof - and perched there like a parrot. Landing next to him, Truniz commented, "Looks like the little Neko bit off more than she could chew."

"Hell of an attack though," Kaen nodded, before grinning as he added, "She's gonna be so pissed when she changes back, assuming she does of course."

"Which is why we must record this," Pi commented, calmly picking up the discarded clothes.

"You're pure evil," Kaen grinned, "I knew there was a reason I loved you."

A crackle came across the radio, the voice belonging to Frost. "We've been watching the whole battle, and we don't plan on missing a thing." He paused as the twins walked up, Pi using her minor healing skills on them while they were distracted with the cat on Kaen's shoulder, before asking, "Ready to come home?"

Kaen shrugged the shoulder the cat wasn't sitting on, "Looks that way." A slight buzz later, they were back on board the Icebreaker, and the older men slipped away to nurse their wounds in their own way, Avarrdo and Kellre with their mates, and Truniz with a drink or three.

"Wow," Frost commented, "That attack sure had some nasty backlash." The others noticed a floating sphere next to him; one of the recorder droids. Without warning, Kat, now more of a kitten, leapt off Kaen's shoulder towards Frost, and, through some twist of fate, landed on his head, sliding slightly on the crystalline blue carapace. A little unsure how to handle the situation, he carefully plucked Kat from his head and held her, musing, "Oh sure, _now_ she's all over me..." With a sigh, he began absently stroking her fur, and, if her purring was evidence enough, she seemed to enjoy the attention; noticing that, he added, "Now I just feel cheap."

The others assembled all started grinning, Avery being the only one to make a sound as he barked a laugh. The sound of the birdman's voice drew Kat's attention, and the gaze she shot his way was somewhat predatory; he was, after all, a bird. "Ohh, this ought to be good..." Frost mused, as, leaping to the ground, the little cat began to stalk towards the birdman, pouncing when she got close enough, and sinking her tiny claws and teeth into his boot; neither actually dug in deep enough to reach the flesh beneath, however.

Releasing him, the little kitten apparently decided he was no longer prey, as she began rubbing against the same leg she'd attacked, her tail coiling around it. A wry grin on his face, Avery commented, "I don't know whether to be happy, surprised, or disturbed..."

Pi just giggled, I am _so_ glad this is being recorded." Turning to Frost, she asked menacingly, "It _is_ being recorded, right?" The Aisu just nodded nastily, and she became all smiles again, much to his relief.

Turning away from the birdman, much to _his_ relief, Kat raced over to the meditating Flute, taking a running leap at his head; or, more specifically, the turban on top of, upon which she curled up, evidently quite comfortable. Despite herself, Viola couldn't help the giggle that escaped her mouth at the look on his face. Reaching up, the Namek caught Kat by the scruff of her neck, holding her at eye level as he mused, "The intensity of the attack caused her to revert to a more primitive form... Interesting." With that he calmly placed Kat upon Viola's head, wearing a smirk of his own; one that was quickly erased as, no sooner had he let go, she jumped back onto his head, seemingly just to spite him.

Giggling herself, Pi retrieved Kat from his head, tickling her belly, commenting, "Oh, she's so cute like this. It's a shame she can't stay this way." From her place resting in the crook of Pi's arm, Kat began batting at the fingers tickling her; her claws weren't extended, so it was clearly just a game.

Walking over to stand next to her, Kaen chuckled, "She is _never_ going to live this down."

The twins zipped over, chirping, "Can we play with her? We promise we'll be careful."

Pi just looked at her mate, saying, "Your call."

He shrugged, "You hurt her, and I _will_ have to kill you." It was quite obvious that he wouldn't in fact, actually kill them; just hurt them quite severely. Nodding, Lime carefully extracted Kat from Pi's grip, placing her on the ground, before both she and her brother began flicking weak balls of ki, about as damaging as crunched-up paper, at the little kitten, who attempted to bat them away in an odd feline version of soccer; she seemed to enjoy the game, as did they, by the way they were laughing.

"I wonder how long it'll last..." Pi mused.

"Well," Kaen replied thoughtfully, "I've had a bit of experience with backfiring attacks, and judging by the amount of power, I'd say she had at least an hour, or-" he paused, looking at the clock, before adding, "about forty to forty-five minutes left."

Pi just nodded, "Well, when she has about five minutes left, I'll take her, and her clothes, back to her room."

"Don't tell her what happened though," Kaen grinned.

She smirked back, "I don't plan on telling her anything beyond the basics."

Kaen cast an eye over the twins, still grinning as he commented, "They always did want a pet..."

"Well making one out of their sister isn't going to be too effective," Pi replied, a grin on her face as well. "Besides," she added, "I'm sure they need more training, if today's battle was any indication."

He nodded, "I know. They're too dependant on each other, so I might have to start training them separately, but that can wait until later; let them have their fun now." She nodded, smiling softly as she rested against him, his arm around her, as they watched the two children play; a mighty blow had been struck today, but what happened tomorrow, could wait for tomorrow.

End Chapter 25

To be continued...


	29. Storytelling with Style

--- The Phoenix Chronicles ---

Chapter 26 - Storytelling with Style

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A few days had passes since the fight on the bait planet, and for once, the three Saiyan men were _not_ standing vigil on the bridge. Truniz was lounging around in the refectory, re-acquainting himself with an old friend; Oosquai. Avarrdo was buried in the workshop he'd set up in the cargo bay, busy creating his next great invention; at least, that's what he claimed. Lastly, Kellre was busy in the training room, and had been for several hours; of the three, he was the only one serious about his training.

As for the rest of the group, the twins were currently in the holo deck, running around in a simulation of the forests of Vegeta-Sei; fortunately, for her safety, and sanity, Viola was spending the day meditating with Flute. Frost, proving he had no life, was maintaining a vigil on the bridge, and similarly, so was Avery. Pi and Kat were currently in the latter's room, sorting out a mix-up in bags from their last splurging spree, and, while they were there, talking about whatever it is girls talk about during 'girl time', and may the Elder Kai have mercy on anyone stupid enough to stumble into it; by chance of fate, April and Raene were doing the same.

And as for Kaen, he was headed to the training room, after a quick snack and a drink or five with his mate's uncle, of course. The training room was designed such that people could freely enter and leave without disrupting the internal settings, but did so at their own hazard; after all, it was designed by Saiyans, with Saiyans in mind. However, it was fairly obvious when the room was being used, thus it was polite to ask permission to join someone already using the room.

As the door slid shut behind him, Kaen immediately sought out the room's current occupant, asking, "Mind a bit of company?"

Kellre paused mid-stance to reply, "Not at all." Kaen just nodded once in silent thanks, and respect, before the two fell into their separate workouts. Even when his memory was still hazy, Kaen knew instinctively that Kellre was a man worthy of respect, and not just because he was Pi's father. Nor was it his size, standing in at well over seven feet tall, and yet not being lanky. It was his eyes. Even by Saiyan standards, his glares were impressive, to the point most Saiyans he knew were convinced Kellre could've stared down Frieza himself; whether or not that was fact or crap had yet to be proven either way.

The older man took a casual note of the younger's pace, but didn't adjust his own. It was only a light workout for both - a mere 50 G's - but it was enough to get the blood pumping, and the muscles working, as the pair worked through their individual kata. As Kaen finished his first one, a fairly short sequence designed to increase speed, he slipped into one he'd yet to perfect, a pure technical one; why he'd chosen a style he knew he made mistakes with, while under the scrutiny of one of the few people he respected he had no idea, but if the older man noticed anything, he made no sign.

In fact, Kellre's eyes didn't even seem focused on him, more looking _through_ him, and he was staring with such intensity one would think the meaning of existence itself was blocked from Kellre's sight by Kaen; he had to admit, even if only to himself, that being under such heavy scrutiny made him nervous. Pausing mid-strike, he asked semi-defensively, "What?"

Kellre's eyes came back into focus, and he muttered to himself, "Interesting..." He made no sign he'd even heard Kaen speak, so, raising an eyebrow at him in question, he picked up where he left off, flowing from that style into one he'd created himself when he was younger, and the one he first used to teach Pi. From the smirk on his face, Kellre clearly recognized it, as he commented, "Ah, yes. That technique was most interesting; simplistic, and with few flaws, yet a very well held intensity to it. Most impressive, considering the age you were when you created it."

Kellre recognized the style well: it was based on what Kaen had observed of other Saiyan's forms, adapted to suit his own needs. Unfortunately, it had the same problem they did, that of requiring brute strength and raw power to overwhelm the enemies defences before tiring yourself out, only more so, given his lack of experience at the time; fortunately, both he, and Pi, had more than enough strength to use it, given their unique... modifications, but most everyone else would be unable to use it. Its only other flaw was that, against a regenerating opponent, it was useless.

Kaen just shrugged, not missing a step as he replied, "I tried. Had to do it right first time." What neither man wanted to mention was that it was the style he had created while out in the wilderness, after he'd ran away upon news of his brother's death; after all, no use opening old wounds.

Kellre just nodded, musing, "What I am most interested in is your, more recent techniques."

"Gonna have to be a bit more specific," Kaen replied, drawing to a stop, "I've picked up quite a bit these past twelve months, or four years, whatever calendar you're using."

With another nod, Kellre expanded his point with, "Your... transformations. I've been watching the playbacks of earlier encounters. They are most interesting."

Kaen noticed the way he stressed the word 'interesting', and Kellre noticed the way Kaen flinched at the word 'encounters', both clearly able to understand the other was thinking about the incident with Pi's temporary death, and also able to understand the other's thoughts on the matter, with no words needed. To avoid the unpleasant direction that conversation could lead, Kaen just flared into Rage Pyre with a shrug, failing to notice the red tinge to both his hair and eyes, not that the tinge became stronger every time he used it; he only knew it got easier the more he did it. "You mean this one?" Without waiting for a reply, he flared into his golden form, knowing it would most likely be the subject, "Or this one?"

The older man nodded when Kaen hit the second form. Kaen knew the conversation was leading here from the moment it started, and Kellre knew that he knew, as words were long since obsolete for the pair for such things; body language was the voice of the warrior. "That one," he supplied, asking, "How long can you maintain it?"

Kaen just shrugged again, throwing a few test punches before replying, "Dunno. Never really tried holding it for any period outside of battle or training. Managed to keep it for at least four hours though, but that _was_ pushing the limits of what my body could withstand, so maybe more in relaxed conditions."

"I see," Kellre muttered thoughtfully, rubbing his chin, "Most interesting."

Kaen continued on as if he hadn't been interrupted, throwing a few more faster-than-light punches as he added, "Far as I know Pi's managed to get it to 'bout two, two and a half hours, maybe even three, but she hasn't really tried to push her limits like I have, yet anyway." From the tone of his voice, it was clear he meant to change that, and fast.

"I see," Kellre replied absently, commenting to himself, "So, it isn't just localised to the royal bloodline..."

"Royal bloodline?" Kaen asked curiously, pausing mid-punch, before relaxing again, and turning to face the man fully, adding, "Wait, you know what this form is?"

"Not so much knowledge, but legend." Kellre replied, in the lecturing tone he knew well.

"Legend?" Kaen prompted; this topic confused him, and he hated being confused. Confusion lead to anger, which lead to acts of violence, and if we didn't get answers soon, there would be _much_ violence.

Kellre just gave a cryptic smile, "Ah, but such things are perhaps best left as stories. However, there are often exceptions, such as your sword. Such things are unheard of among most races in this galaxy, if not the universe itself, and yet, there it is." His smile became a full blown grin, "Or isn't, as the case may be."

Kaen's right eye, right hand, and the right side of his mouth all twitched at once, almost as if he'd had a mini-seizure; this situation was irritating, amusing, and infuriating all at the same time. Trying to remain polite, or at least as polite as he ever saw, he commented, "You gonna start making sense any time soon?" Reaching a hand up, he drew his blade, adding, "And my sword's right here, but I assume you knew that; my question is how?"

Kellre just laughed, "Yes, I was aware you had it, and I assume you always have it; I noticed my eyes looking around your shoulder, and connected the dots. I will, however, try to slow down for you. Tell me of the weapon, it's exact properties. That you know of anyway."

He could sense there was more the man wasn't saying, but he had no reason not to trust him, so he replied, "Very well. First, because it was forged through our ki, it's bonded to Pi and I, and reacts to us accordingly, as well as storing a few of our techniques. It also stores actual ki inside as well." Spinning the sword once around in his hand, the blade burst into flame as he added, "When I use it I can ignite the blade..." With another spin, the flame died out, and another burst from the hilt, forming a second blade; "...and it can shift into this form, where it's more balanced, but can't channel ki as well." Spinning it one final time, the blade returned to normal as he concluded, "There's probably more, but I can't think of any off the top of... Ah, right, it also increases the potency of our ki, meaning we need to use less."

"May I hold it?" Kellre asked simply.

Kaen just spun the sword 180, holding it out hilt first as he said, "Be my guest."

Kellre just gave a bob of his head as he reached out his right hand, passing it over Kaen for a moment before grasping the sword, as his hand began glowing a soft red. As the older man took the sword from him, Kaen was surprised to see that the sword did _not_ revert to it's default state, staying the red-glowing flame-style it was when he held it. He was even more surprised when it lit up in flame, like he himself had done with it. "Well balanced, good craftsmanship." Kellre commented, performing a deft parry against an invisible opponent, "You do your father proud."

Despite the shock he felt, Kaen managed to reply, "Guess I had pick up some of my old man's talent."

Kellre nodded as he raised his left hand, which took on a soft green glow, and he switched the sword into his other hand. As he did so, the blade of the sword started glowing green as it became perfectly straight, and even that word couldn't describe it; it looked more keen than any other sword. Also, Kaen's eyes noticed, for the briefest second both Kellre's hands had been touching it, it glowed orange.

As was usual, shock turned to anger, as Kaen barked out, "Alright, how are you doing that? Unless I botched the construction somehow, it should be ki bonded, meaning only reactive to Pi or I, and as far as I know, your ki signature is like your fingerprint."

Kellre answered the question the way he answered every question ever posed to him; obscurely. "Did you know that it's possible to make gloves that mimic other people's finger and palm prints?"

Kaen just groaned, "Damnit, I should've guessed; you're copying us. I thought your signature felt odd, but I figured it was interference from the sword; after all, it does seem to have a signature all of it's own."

The shit-eating grin on Kellre's face spoke loudly enough, so he didn't comment; instead, he changed the subject. "So, do you even know how to use this thing properly, or do you just swing it around, hoping you'll hit something vital?"

Kaen barely fought back a wince at his description, replying, "Well, not quite how I would have phrased it, but... I'm willing to admit I'm not that good. What little I do know it self-taught; no one seems to use the good old classics anymore..." He finished with a wry grin.

"Fair enough," was Kellre's neutral reply, and with that, he threw the sword into the air, so it would fall towards Kaen hilt first. Without looking, Kaen snatched it from the air, spinning it once to kill its momentum before holding it loosely at his side, his eyes focused on the man across from him. He watched as Kellre seemed to shift his shoulders, before drawing from behind him, at about waist height, a sword with a blade of pure white light, that actually seemed to absorb the light around it rather than cast it; like Kaen's, it was near impossible to tell it was there before it was drawn.

Kaen just nodded respectfully, commenting, "Impressive. Seems I'm not as original as I thought."

Kellre just smirked, holding the sword diagonally from his body, towards the floor. "Pi learned a few things from me as well, though indirectly; after all, our fighting spirit is in our blood. So, are you ready?"

Kaen tensed on the inside; Kellre had just admitted calmly, and subtly, that he had been living by the sword for at least twenty standard years. On the outside, however, Kaen was beyond such things as worry; emotion didn't belong on the battlefield. Instead, he fell into a fairly loose, defensive stance, replying with a grin, "Let's dance."

A simple nod of the head indicated the start of the fight, followed quickly by a diagonal slice to Kaen's torso. With a quick flick of the wrist, Kaen inverted the hold he had on his sword, such that the blade was facing downwards, and the blades clashed in a shower of sparks; like that, blocking was less awkward, and allowed the full strength of his arm to be used.

Another nod of his head indicated the start of the next round, as Kellre slid his blade down Kaen's, somehow avoiding the jagged edges of the blade, as he thrust the blade towards Kaen's shoulder. The younger man just twisted out of the way, keeping his sword against his arm as he stepped out of range of the potentially crippling blow. "Excellent, " Kellre commented, "This lesson may go very well indeed. Perhaps even without bloodshed." He held his sword in a middle stance, neither offensive, nor defensive, but easy to switch between each.

The flame-haired Saiyan fell into a hybrid stance, geared for both hand-to-hand and melee combat, with his left arm held before him defensively, and the right above his head, his sword still held in reverse, with the blade resting against his forearm. Without warning, Kellre advanced with a spinning strike towards Kaen's side, but the younger man just took to the air, leaping over both Kellre, and the arc of his sword, spinning around to make a counter-strike. The old blademaster was expecting that, however, continuing the spin to arch back and block Kaen's strike, which he answered with a kick to his mid-section. Kaen raised his knee to block the kick, using both arms to brace his sword and keep the blades together, before using a small burst of ki to leap off his right leg, spinning backwards to throw a retaliatory kick, which Kellre merely jumped back from.

Relaxing a moment, Kellre commented, "You do well, but so far I have only seen you defend."

Taking a step back, Kaen resumed his stance, commenting, "I've found that sometimes the best offence is a strong defence, at least until you know what you're up against." Grinning, he added, "But if you insist..."

Almost the second Kaen sprang forward to attack, Kellre instantly found his fault. For the first half of the fight, Kaen had been on the defensive, something he had never done in his training, and thus, something he had to learn. Offence, however, was something Kaen was intimately familiar with, and Kellre could see he had applied the same principles to both; simply put, he was putting far too much energy into his strikes, trying to overpower his opponent. 'Well,' Kellre mused to himself, 'We'll have to un-learn that.'

Waiting until the very last second, Kellre arched aside, driving his fist into Kaen's stomach hard enough to wind him, barking out, "This is a sword fight, not a slug-fest. Foolish moves like that against someone trying to kill you will result in your death."

Raising his sword, Kaen growled, "I can see why you and the old man get along..." Wasting no more time on words, Kaen charged forward again.

Kellre had enough time to roll his eyes before bringing his sword up to block, before proceeding to slap the younger man across the face just hard enough to be insulting. "Stop lugging that thing around like your ego. You're lacking the key principle when it comes to sword play."

Wheeling back, Kaen modified his grip on the sword, coming in with a few rapid swings as he said, "Enlighten me then."

With his left arm behind his back, Kellre parried all blows using a single arm, and about one tenth of the power Kaen was, before commenting as though it were the most obvious thing in the universe, "Finesse."

Rolling his eyes as he kept up the attack, Kaen muttered, "And where the hell could I have learnt that? Last proper teacher I had was killed when I was barely five standard years, remember?" Stepping back, he fell into a relaxed stance, adding, "I'm still getting used to doing things differently to how I taught myself as a kid."

"You always were a quick study Kapskaen," Kellre smirked, "Let us hope you have retained that skill."

o-o-o

For the next ten hours the two trained, Kellre drilling Kaen on the art, the principle, and, of course, the finesse involved with the sword, and, true to form, Kaen's battle-hardened mind soaked it up. Towelling off after the long training session, Kaen turned to the grizzled blademaster with a grin on his face, asking, "So, do I pass?"

Kellre just barked a laugh, replying, "Barely." He knew Kaen did well, and he knew Kaen knew that he'd done well, but he had no intention of buffering his ego.

"Good enough." Still grinning, he absently tossed his sword into the air, leaning to one side as it flipped in mid-air, before falling directly into the hidden sheath on his back. Kellre just shifted his shoulders again, dropping the hidden sheath for _his_ sword to his waist, sheathing it properly before hitching it back up to his shoulder again.

"As for talk of legend, I have a story for you." Kellre commented out of the blue.

A little surprised at the return to this topic, Kaen replied, "I've always liked stories."

"As you know," Kellre began, "You father and I do more than just tinker with machines, although that is a particular passion of his. We also created techniques to aid in battle, and to strengthen the Saiyan race as a whole. You may not know it but, when you were younger, do you remember being told to drink a dark blue liquid that tasted like something you might have stepped in?" The sour look on Kaen's face said enough, as Kellre grinned, "Yes, that concoction served a vital purpose. With it, you are no longer vulnerable to pain when someone was to grab your tail."

"Couldn't you have done something about the taste?" Kaen asked with a cough; he could still remember what it tasted like, and it was a phantom taste he could do without.

Kellre just gave him a blank look, "Would you prefer to be paralysed if someone were to grab your tail in the middle of a fight, or a more... sensitive moment?"

Shaking his head, Kaen replied defensively, "I'm not complaining about the results, just how they came about." Grinning a bit, he added, "Then again, I 'spose it wouldn't be medicine if it didn't taste bad now would it?"

Kellre grinned back, before mentioning, "Besides, we tried to do something about the taste, but the chemical compound separated itself from anything we added to it." Exhaling harshly, he added quickly, and quietly, "Although I will admit you were a bit of a test subject for that particular formula..."

"Fair enough," Kaen replied, "I guess it's a small enough price for... Wait a second!" He shouted, "Test subject? Just how many of your experiments was I a guinea pig for?"

"It... can no longer be measured in numbers, only abstract theories, but we're off topic," Kellre replied with a dismissive wave of his hand, before picking up his tale, "Other techniques of ours are less known. The Hyperspace Cannon used in this ship was one of your fathers, and I trust you remember that technique from our last sortie."

"I assume you don't use that one much," Kaen commented dryly.

Kellre looked deathly serious as he continued, "There is a serious side effect to it's use; I don't know what it is, but I can feel it. That is perhaps the seventh time I have used it, and each time I felt something different, but I can't explain what happened; only that something did."

"I think I have at least a vague idea..." Kaen commented quietly, clenching his fist, which, for a moment, was enshrouded in pure white flame, before they died out as suddenly as they flared up.

Kellre shook his head, "More than erase their existence from space and time; this technique was designed to be used on Frieza..."

"I'm not trying to dispute it," Kaen interjected before the man could launch into one of his lectures, remarkably unsurprised that he knew the workings of his Balefire, "I'm just trying to say that I understand about techniques with effects beyond our comprehension, and about power sometimes coming with a great, and potentially unknown, price we must pay eventually."

Kellre nodded once, showing he understood Kaen's point, before saying, "There's more to it than just that though. The after effect may actually be my own slow death, and, if so, I assume that the stronger the opponent, the more of my life is burned away each time; someone strong enough might result in an instant death. I just don't know for sure."

"Best we don't find out the hard way then," Kaen commented, with a borderline respectful tone, which warred with the grin threatening to appear on his face.

"Indeed." Kellre replied, "But we digress. One of the things the King tasked me with was to find out if the Legend of the Super Saiyan was more than just that. Legend."

"Super Saiyan?" Kaen asked incredulously.

"Don't be daft boy," Kellre shot back, shaking his head, "You know the legend as well as any other Saiyan with a lust for power. A thousand years ago, more perhaps, there was a Saiyan in his transformed state, who became what was also termed as the Golden Oozaru. Getting any of this?"

"I'm writing it all down," he replied dryly. His tone showed that he was indeed listening, but wasn't going to stand for being lectured at _again_.

"Anyway," Kellre continued, "Conventional power changes, much like your 'Rage Pyre', are used to amplify strength on a physical basis, increasing it by fractions of your existing power. The Super Saiyan transformation has been theorised to be entire, doubling, or even tripling, strength, speed, and power all at once. Many believe this is something held exclusively in the royal bloodline, as they are the direct descendants of the original Super Saiyan."

Kaen nodded thoughtfully, "Things are starting to make a bit more sense now..." His head snapped up, as he interjected, "Wait a minute. You're saying that this transformation of mine-" He absently realised that he hadn't changed back since Kellre asked him to show it to him, meaning he'd been holding it for over ten hours now, shattering his old record; "-might actually be the Super Saiyan transformation? There's no way. It's meant to be the peak of Saiyan power, but I can _feel_ more, just waiting to be released."

"I was getting to that, before you interrupted." Focusing inwardly for a moment, Kaen watched as Kellre's hair flashed a vibrant blonde for a split second, and his eyes the focused green he recognized, but as quickly as it came it faded. "I know you can sense power," Kellre commented, in a voice that showed he'd be asking the particulars at a later date, "What did you feel?"

"A massive jump in power. From candle, to nova, and back again." He shrugged, "I can't explain it better than that."

"That's alright; it demonstrated enough," Kellre replied calmly, "And it is still untapped, probably not even full potential. Even your transformation, which you can maintain for four hours-"

"Ten." Kaen interrupted, "Set a new record today."

"Ten hours." Kellre nodded, continuing his thought, "Is, as I believe, but a first step towards the true form; you yourself admit there must be another level. You see, the Golden Oozaru was uncontained, wild, and self-destructive; it destroyed itself with it's own power, but not before taking a large chunk out of the planet. However, if that is indeed the pinnacle of Saiyan strength, there must be a way of harnessing it, so there _must_ be a form beyond that, one where that power is focused into something more than primitive might."

Kaen's eyes unfocused for a moment as he mused to himself, "Just imagine what you could do with power like that; what power like that would _feel_ like..."

A flick to his forehead snapped him out of it, as did Kellre's returned lecturing tone, "Remember, however, the Golden Oozaru destroyed itself, because it did not have control. When you let your power consume you, then you lose yourself."

"I got it. Always need to maintain control." His face twisting up sourly, he muttered, "Now I understand why I was targeted..."

Kellre burst out laughing, and couldn't seem to stop himself. Eventually, he managed to compose himself, saying, "Do not think so highly of yourself. From what I can ascertain from the data of when you and my daughter 'ascended', and from my own experience, all it requires is a focus. A powerful focus of unadulterated and pure determination, to become a Super Saiyan."

"Hey, I spent a quarter of my life with some bastard hunting me, I think I have a right to believe myself targeted." Despite the circumstances, he didn't sound, or feel, indignant; just annoyed.

"Oh, that's certainly very true Kaen, that the Cold Empire would, and does, want any and every potential threat removed, and thus a target you were; however, don't place any misconceptions on what is best described as a legend."

Realisation hit him suddenly. "Wait, you think that _I_ thought I was some kind of legend?" He started laughing himself, saying, "Give me _some_ credit. I merely mentioned I was targeted because I had the potential to become what I am now; I'm not claiming I'm some kind of legend made flesh. That would be _too_ egotistical, _and_ idiotic, even for _me_." He would admit, albeit behind closed doors, that sometimes he didn't always do the smartest of things, and that he had a bit of an ego problem, but he was working on both of those. Grinning lopsidedly in amusement, he added, "Now, a Vegeta, on the other hand..."

Kellre just smirked back, making one final comment, "In any case, remember what I taught you: finesse, and control. Always control. Otherwise, my daughter may end up using you as a foot stool." With that, he nodded once in farewell, and was on his way.

Shaking his head, Kaen commented, just before the older man was out of earshot, "Like your mate does you?" Dropping the towel he held onto the ground, knowing that either the robots, or his obsessive-compulsive mother, would find it, he set off in search of his mate, finding her back in their room, trying on the various outfits she'd recovered from Kat. Leaning against the doorframe, Kaen wolf whistled, commenting, "Those clothes look good on you." Walking into the room, he noticed her looking at him with a raised eyebrow, like she expected him to add something; he didn't disappoint. "'Course, they'd look better _off_ you, but that'd just my opinion."

She giggled a little before punching his chest quite solidly, but he just grabbed her and held her against him, running a hand through her hair, and silently revelling in her company; he didn't know what he'd done to deserve her, but he intended to keep doing it. Giggling again, she hit him once more, this time a little harder, as she chided, "Now, now, I've got to help get lunch ready; or is it dinner now? Whatever. Besides, you'll have more energy on a full stomach."

Releasing her again, he replied, "Well, I don't 'spose I have much choice in the matter. You always manage to find some way to get whatever you want from me."

She just giggled once more, commenting, "Yeah, it's the best trick I ever taught you." Despite himself, he couldn't help but laugh at that comment, and, with a quick kiss, she shot from the room, and life carried on as normal for the extremely _ab_normal group.

End Chapter 26

To be continued...

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Author's Notes:

This chapter is a bit of a homage to the movie Legend of Zorro, showing that sometimes, the most important lesson, is the one you'd least expect.


	30. The End of a Journey

--- The Phoenix Chronicles ---

Chapter 28 - The End of a Journey

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Seven Saiyans stood silent vigil on the bridge of the Icebreaker, as it drew nearer to its next destination. Today, all their planning would come to a head. In but a few short hours, they would arrive at the final meeting point for the Saiyan refugees, and their exodus to a new home would begin; after roughly five standard months, or just over one Saiyan month, of being scattered through the Northern Quadrant, today they would all assemble.

Many, if not most, races throughout the galaxy underestimated the Saiyans, writing them off as primitive, animalistic, and unintelligent, but in a scant two standard weeks, give or take a few days, the group on the bridge had managed to plan, rally, and relay, almost every remaining Saiyan throughout the entire Northern Quadrant, under the nose of the Cold Empire; by all reports, the only relay point that the Cold Empire had found was the bait planet, and that was deliberate.

The twins were currently in the training room, burning off some of the excessive energy they had; they knew well that today was not a day for their usual rambunctiousness. The remaining Saiyans were content to maintain watch on their progress, each lost in their own thoughts (although Avarrdo, Kellre, and Truniz's thoughts were decidedly a bit more smug than the others, what with the three of them planning this whole thing). Indeed, it seemed that everyone in their little group was on the bridge, with Avery brooding, as usual, at his terminal, Frost trying to remain dignified at his post while he sweated inside, Flute and Viola meditating silently off to one side, and Kat fidgeting nervously at her seat, and trying to hide it.

Pi walked up to her silently, laying a hand against her shoulder before asking quietly, "What's wrong?"

Kat jumped a bit at her touch, showing just how nervous she was, before laughing a little to cover it and replying, "Oh, nothing really. It's just... It's nothing. Don't worry. I'm fine." She didn't want to tell her 'sister' that she was decidedly nervous about meeting to many Saiyans; sure, the ones she'd met so far were all pretty cool, but it was still hard to get around all the stories she'd heard.

Crouching down, and moving the arm from sitting on her shoulder to rest around her shoulders, she asked, "Is this about what happened last week with your attack?"

She blinked a bit; she hadn't thought anything of that at all. "Um, why? Did something bad happen? I just remember blacking out, and waking up again in my room."

Pi only barely contained her smirk as she looked at her mate. Grinning a bit himself, Kaen commented, "Fairly devastating attack that. I'm almost jealous." That was fairly high praise coming from him, but there was something about the way he said 'almost' that made the young redhead believe there was something they weren't telling her.

Pi paused a moment, trying to work out the right wording, before asking, "Kat, were you aware of any side effects when you created the technique?"

The Neko-Jin shook her head. "Nope. I didn't even create it, really. I was just training one day when some creeps jumped me, and it just... happened. I do know I can't always do it though."

Nodding, she cast her gaze between her sister and mate for a moment, as if hoping he'd say something, before adding, "Well, there seems to be a side effect, maybe if too much ki is used, maybe not enough..."

She just quirked her head to one side, prompting, "Oh?"

Pi looked back at her mate, "Shall we?"

Kaen just smirked, shaking his head, "Later."

Pi just smirked back, replying to her adopted sister, "Don't worry about it. You're okay, and that's what matters."

Kat pouted, exclaiming, "Oh come on guys! You can't say something like that and just leave me hanging!"

Pi just stood up with a shrug, "Well, if you insist..."

Kat looked up at her worriedly, "What? It's bad isn't it?" The elder girl just smirked, reaching over to press a few buttons on Kat's console, starting the playback of an old recording, showing Kaen holding a small kitten; well, a kitten sitting on his shoulder, anyway. Confused, Kat asked, "Um, when did you guys get a cat?"

Without opening his eyes, Flute commented, "We didn't." The faintest trace of a smile could be seen on his face.

"Doesn't that fur look familiar at all?" Kellre added, with a grin of his own.

The girl took a closer look, her eyes narrowing as she focused on the picture, before clarity hit her like a sledgehammer. Recoiling quickly, she gasped, be it in shock or horror, as she squeaked, "That's me isn't it?"

There was stifled laughter from the older men and women in the room, Flute and Viola included, as Kaen walked up calmly, placing a hand on her shoulder, commenting, "Yes. Yes it is."

Her face burned in embarrassment, and it only got worse as the playback began. The first images were playful, with Pi playing with the small kitten while they were still on the planet, and even Kaen making a small fuss, but as the movie continued, Kat's face both paled in shock, and flushed red in embarrassment, resulting in an odd combination. The scene that had her so horrified: the scene with the little kitten in Frost's arms, purring appreciatively as the Aisu-Jin pet, tickled, and scratched her playfully. A slight squeak escaped her lips.

Frost smirked to himself, but otherwise remained silent, as his words came through the speakers, saying, "Now I just feel cheap."

Kat made a few motions as if she wanted to get up, but the hand on her shoulder clenched slightly, indicating her brother's thoughts on the matter: 'You started it, you finish it.' The scene changed to show the kitten's interactions with Avery, and she growled a little to herself, digging her claws in to the arms of her chair - the metal arms - and carved out small trenches. The video finally drew to a close, showing the twins playing with their 'older sister'.

Looking horrified to her bones, and half homicidal to boot, she commented loudly, "I am _NEVER_ doing that again!"

Truniz spoke up, his calm voice not betrayed by the deep amusement he felt, "It's a powerful technique, and as far as backlash goes, that was pretty minor; trust me, I know, I've _seen_ major backlash. If embarrassment is the worst backlash you ever suffer from your attacks, consider yourself lucky." Kat just grit her teeth, digging her claws deeper in to the arms of her chair; judging by the deep gashes that now ran through them, they'd need to be replaced.

Pi just laughed, trying to console her, before Flute called out, "Don't feel so bad. If it's any consolation, we will soon be meeting at least several hundred angry Saiyans, all of which no doubt want to kill his brother," indicating to Frost, "but may settle for him instead. If anyone has any reason to panic, it's him."

Kaen grinned, looking over at the Aisu as he commented, "The green man makes a good point."

Frost paled, which was saying a lot given his already pallid complexion; his pale blue skin actually looked white. Standing up a little shakily, and walking off the bridge, Frost muttered, "I need to go lie down..."

"Don't worry," Avery remarked, a grin on his face, "We'll wake you up when we get there." The birdman always liked to see Frost uncomfortable; he didn't hate him, just who he reminded him of.

Seeing the homicidal rage fade from his sister's eyes, Kaen calmly retracted his hand, commented as he walked off, "I need to go check on the pests. Be back soon."

Pi smiled at his retreating form, before turning back to Kat, saying calmly, "Don't feel so bad, you were very cute like that."

The girl's cheeks burned with embarrassment again, but the colour fled her face as a thought occurred to her. Afraid of the answer, she asked slowly, "Um, if I, uh, 'de-evolved', for a while, what happened to my clothes?"

Pi laughed, "I collected them for you, and when you dozed off I took you, and them, back to your room. We were a little afraid it might not wear off."

Relieved, the embarrassment returned as the girl replied, "Thanks sis. I don't think I could've stood it if I'd... changed back... in public."

Nodding, the older girl placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, saying sagely, "Well, being naked isn't anything to be ashamed of. If they want to leer, then let them; just make sure they get a few broken bones as payment."

Giggling a little, Kat replied, "I'll keep that in mind." She was obviously still a little embarrassed, but the feeling was fading.

Smiling a little, Pi decided to lighten the mood, patting the redhead as though she were still a kitten, commenting, "Well, as I said before, you were very cute as a kitten, so maybe we'll get lucky and it'll happen again." Kat just scowled, swatting the hand away, but it didn't phase Pi; she just giggled again and gave her a massive hug. The scowl remained on her face, but Kat made no effort to dislodge the Saiyan girl; Pi always got her way one way or another anyway, so why bother trying to fight it?

The next hour of flight was uneventful, but as the ship set down on the target planet, the mood on board was a sombre one. All nine Saiyans, the twins included, were decked out in full battle gear (although Kaen's was his own standard, not the blue, yellow, and white of Saiyan standard), that was formal enough for meeting dignitaries, but functional enough to fight in, should the need arise; and if things went sour today, the need probably would arise. The twins stood silently beside their brother, as serious as they'd ever been in their lives; obviously they'd had a talking to. At the head of the group was Kellre and Avarrdo, the pair involved in deep discussion.

With them was: Kat, her face a mask of calm determination, decked out in armour similar in design to Kaen's, only obviously in female cut, and entirely black; Avery, wearing traditional Tori-Jin sniper camo, a solemn look on his face; Frost, now looking much more calm and composed, and still in his fourth form, trusting in his speed, and the fact he was not his brother, to see him through the day; and finally, Flute and Viola, looking mildly interested in the whole thing, and maybe even a little amused.

Cracking his head to one side, Kaen looked to those assembled and said, "Well, let's get this over with." Avarrdo, Kellre, and Truniz filed out first, followed by April and Raene. Kaen and Pi walked out together, trailed by Kat and the twins, with Avery, the Nameks, and Frost following them. The area before them was deserted, filled with scarce trees and bushes, and besides the occasional scorch mark, the hallmark of Kaen's work, the land was plain and unassuming.

A few moments after they landed, a few Saiyans emerged from their hiding places in the surrounding environment, hailing a greeting, which the group responded to in kind. Walking forward, the first scout remarked, "Ah, I know you. You're commander Avarrdo, the one who sent the encrypted message."

Avarrdo nodded, "So I am. So, how have things been going?"

The scout shook his head, replying apologetically, "You'll have to ask the ruling council."

Kellre cocked an eyebrow, saying, "Lead on, and what's this about a council?"

As they were lead to the camp, the scout replied, "It's a group of the strongest elites. With the royal family slain, the ruling council rose up to take charge; they ensure order, and make sure no one tries to do anything stupid."

As they arrived at the camp, which was obviously set up in efficient military fashion - space pods lined up for immediate deployment, tents erected in perfect rows - a group of six brutish-looking elites could be seen having a shouting match in the centre. Without turning around, Avarrdo commented to the others, "And this is 'order'?" It had never been more obvious that he was Kaen's father than now.

While Avarrdo, Kellre, and their mates waited patiently, Truniz, feeling bored, decided to join in, waiting for an opportune time. Kat and the twins tried hard to suppress laughter, while Pi shared a smirk with her father, and both Kaen and Avarrdo shook their heads. It took a full minute before the six realised they had a seventh, and at that point Truniz just grinned cheerfully, asking, "What up bitches?"

Kaen barked a laugh, and the others looked like they were struggling not to join in, but before the shouting could resume Avarrdo and Kellre managed to interject, the latter asking, "So, why the shouting?"

The largest of the group, and therefore the one most likely to have the highest power level, replied gruffly, "We're deciding the best plan of attack against Frieza."

Kaen snorted contemptuously, and even Avarrdo couldn't keep the contempt from his usually calm voice as he gave the man a level stare, commenting, "He wiped out our entire planet without so much as breaking a sweat; do you really think attacking him is a wise idea?" The six elites started arguing that point, with Avarrdo, Kellre and Truniz arguing back, and everything soon descended back into a shouting match.

Pi yawned, turning an eye to her mate, knowing he'd put a stop to this, and he didn't disappoint. Forming a small ball of ki in his hand, he flung it above the group, detonating it with but a thought for a harmless, although loud, explosion. All eyes were instantly on him, both those of the elites, demanding to know why he interfered, and those of his family and friends, wondering what he was going to do.

Dusting his hands, he commented, "Now that you've all shut up, maybe we can have a normal conversation _without_ shouting, hm?" His father and Kellre nodded once, deferring to him, and the elites gave him a look that said they were willing to give him a few minutes, provided he didn't waste their time. He levelled his gaze at them, looking the world like his father, as he began, "First, as they said, attacking Frieza right now is not only pointless, it's suicidal. Not one of you is _anywhere_ near his level, and as much as it pains me to say this, there is currently not a Saiyan in this camp strong enough to stand up to Frieza and win. Unless you all want to die, I'd suggest a different plan, and if you're _that_ eager to die, you don't need to find Frieza." Creating a ball of ki in his hand, he added, "I can do that for you."

Pi grinned to herself, watching her mate at work, while he re-absorbed the ki. "Okay then," he continued, "That said, we need to come up with a plan for the future. The Saiyan race has been severely crippled, and if we are to avoid extinction, we need to prepare for the next generation. Obviously, yes, the ultimate goal is to kill Frieza, and to rebuild the Saiyan race, in either order, but that will require more than half a dozen people arguing back and forth like a couple of kids."

Kellre nodded, adding, "And we have already found a desirable staging area to such an endeavour."

Kaen nodded, moving to step back, having said his piece, but at least one of the elites had more than enough of being polite, barking, "Since when did we have to listen to a runt like you!"

With a growl, Kaen replied, "If what I have seen is right, you're using the law of 'the strongest rule, while the weaker follow orders'." Powering up to his limit in his basic form, he added firmly, "And _I_ am the strongest here."

The big man, the obvious 'leader' of the ruling council, scoffed, "Hah, kid, just 'cause you can bust a few scouters doesn't mean a damn thing."

Flute finally had enough of the ego being thrown around, he commented quietly, yet loud enough to carry across the area, "And yet, the very ground you are standing on was freed by this man, this Phoenix." All activity in the camp stopped, the sensitive hearing of the Saiyan people meaning everyone heard him, and word spread fast, everyone stopping to stare at the man in question.

The elite, however, was unphased, jeering, "Hah, like I'm going to believe this runt is Phoenix. Not by a long shot."

Groaning in annoyance, Kaen asked tiredly, "Then what _would_ convince you baka?"

Pi just sighed, "Just beat his tiny head between his shoulders and be done with it sweetie."

He just shrugged, replying, "'Kay." No sooner had he spoken than he disappeared. With the sound of impact he reappeared, his elbow driven into the elite's kidneys, and his knee driven into his stomach, trapping the older man in place. A gasp went up from the onlookers; they hadn't even seen him move. As he withdrew his limbs, the elite proceeded to keel over, but before he'd gotten halfway Kaen spun around, his boot making contact with the man's chest, kicking him up and onto the two elites behind him, who proceeded to hold him up. Lowering his foot again, Kaen commented, "And that was using no more than a ten percent of my power."

The demonstration finished, activity continued in the camp. Casting an eye over it, Kellre commented, "Well done. Now, as I was saying, we've found a class four planet: enough life support for everyone here, and to promote growth."

Truniz interjected, "How many of us are there here anyway?"

One of the other elites, one of the three not supporting their fallen comrade, supplied, "A little over half a million. There were more survivors at the start, but some of us lost mates, so..." The assembled Saiyans all bowed their heads in understanding, Kaen keeping an eye on Pi as he did so.

After a minute of respectful silence, Avarrdo continued Kellre's speech. "We found the planet because it was the last planet a Saiyan child was sent to, so there's a good chance it was never logged with the Cold Empire; by my records, the child was sent mere hours before Vegeta-Sei was destroyed. Therefore, as long as we don't do anything drastic, like wiping out the local population, we should be able to make a fresh home there."

Casting an eye over the assembled elites, and sparing an especially long look at the elite still struggling to collect his breath, Kaen asked/stated, "I trust there are no objections?"

When no one raised any, Kellre nodded, "Very well then, let's get everyone loaded on to the Icebreaker, and we can be on our way."

Quirking her head to one side, as she was want to do, Kat, silent thus far, asked, "Um, how is everyone gonna fit? I mean, it's a big ship, sure, but, half a million?"

Avarrdo took on his trademark lecturing tone, "The ship was made to transport a full army. There's a fourth-dimensional city in there. However, it wasn't meant to support a species like a planet is, so anything over a few months of use will cause the ship's reactor to explode."

"Implode." Kellre added, grinning slightly.

"In any case," Kaen interrupted dryly, preventing the argument he could practically smell, "I imagine that would be rather painful for the occupants."

"Obviously," his father replied in a similar tone.

Curious, Frost finally spoke up, "So what's the name of this planet then?"

Truniz answered, "Some backwater place called Ey-ahrth."

End Chapter 28

Fin.

Or is it?


End file.
